by Deaf Wish
Lithium Zion is the fifth full-length album for Deaf Wish (and second for Sub Pop following 2015’s Pain), and while it’s a rare case that a group’s fifth album is their best, particularly any band operating under a “loud fast rules” ethos, Deaf Wish make a strong case as the exception.
Their previous albums were all recorded in makeshift studios, which of course is a wise aesthetic choice for capturing the hazardous riffing, chemically-stained vocals and fiery rhythms conjured by a group such as this, but this step toward a slightly more professional sound only enhances their power - think of the difference between a tangled pile of firecrackers and a red stick of TNT lodged in a hornets nest.
Lithium Zion is a veritable buffet of garage-punk energy, post-punk pathos, sardonic wit and the fearlessness that comes with Aussie rock, a natural consequence for anyone living on a continent teeming with grapefruit-sized spiders and man-eating mosquito swarms.
THIS WEEK'S FEATURED TRACKS
Cash Savage and the Last Drinks - Pack Animals
Harmony - Indifference
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Time in Common
Kurushimi - A Glimpse of a Thursday Afternoon
Jlin - The Abyss of Doubt
Stephen Malkmus - Solid Silk (Acoustic)
The Goon Sax - Make Time 4 Love
Clowns - Freezing in the Sun
Jen Cloher - Strong Woman (Live at the Loft)
This week's Top 10:
