Well this is a real mixed bag of delights. Bet you never thought you’d see The Bangles mentioned in here eh? At its base this debut long-player from Virginian duo Akris is largely stoner-sludge, all leaden grooves and fuzzed notes, but there’s so much more in the mix here. Prince’s fave girl band is just one of the many outfits springing to mind upon listening to Akris (Domestic Genocide): the winsome pop-rock quartet linking with the dropped out occult stoner of Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats, especially on the doom-laden ‘Riverbed’ and the second half of the mammoth ‘Part of Me’, with the psychedelic sludge of Kylesa and grooved-out grunge of Nevermind-era Nirvana appearing frequently also. You befuddled yet?!
Oddly enough, given the guitar-driven hooks of the bands mentioned above, there are no six-string flurries here; just the rumbling, fuzzed thunder of, apparently, the world’s most sonorous bass. Its mistress, Helena Goldberg, is also the reason for the Susanna Hoffs comparisons: her breezy, melodic tones blending right from the off with sleazy, almost progressive structures in the overtly-sexual ‘Fighter Pilot’. The heavy psychedelia of Hawkwind marries the atonal scream and almost spoken delivery of Laura Pleasants on ‘Row of Lights’; indeed, the Kylesa link is apparent in a glut of tracks, with Goldberg marrying the Pleasants harshness with a soulful sneer reminiscent of Kurt Cobain’s softer moments in ‘Unidentified’. Meanwhile the laconic drone of Vomit Within’s first section evokes comparisons with Undersmile, albeit with more mellifluous tendencies.
That the duo is just one big rhythm section with melodies is borne out by the relentless, pounding groove of closer Suffocate, alongside a throat-ripping scream that defies belief and the crushing bass work which is the underpin of the whole album. It is Goldberg’s delicious yet stark harmonies, however, which enliven the whole affair and give it an air of uniqueness; converting a merely intriguing album into one of real integrity and unidentifiable magnetism. Urgent, throbbing, and sexy as fuck, despite what is in many respects a quite basic sound, I will most definitely be returning to this on a regular basis.
8.o/10
Paul Quinn