Review: Bandcamp / Soundcloud Round-Up pt 4

Another roundup of what's out there in Bandcamp / Soundcloud land.

First up is Replica Jesus, a stoner punk band from Derby. They have a new(ish) single out which is downloadable for free via Bandcamp. 'Muscle Meat' is a fine slab of punk / metal crossover - mighty riffs, some great fuzz and vocals that are strident one minute and earthy and sleazy the next (at one point put me in mind of Jim Foetus circa Wiseblood). The track fair rattles along and the power in the guitars is a joy to hear. The b-side (do you call it a b-side if via download?) 'A Lethal Mix Of Failures' has a more stoner feel but basically is more of the same....which in this case is a good thing. A peek at their Facebook feed shows they are touring with Bone Cult - way to go boys! Oh, and if you decide to make the 'Replica Jesus' artwork into a t-shirt...give me shout!



Next up is something at the other end of the musical spectrum. Stromboli is, as described by his label, Maple Death Records, as "an enigmatic lapsteel ambient guitar player" whose material takes "punk approach to more cerebral stuff that could have easily been on Mego or Touch" - big words that are happily backed up by the man himself. His latest is a cassette only release 'MDR002' which initially sold out (first press of 100) and is now being repressed. The music is darkly ambient, rich in atmosphere and sonic textures and would fit neatly into Mego's roster. Drawing deeply on the use of drones and environmental sounds and no small amount of imagination and nous, it has a touch of Coil about it in it's beauty and balance. Add to that the fact that Brian Pyle (Ensemble Economique) is on mastering duties and you have a wonderful work of dark and moody ambience - great stuff!



Space Church, whose Facebook strapline reads 'Dadrock from the future' play Post / Noise / Stoner / Math Rock - so that's most bases covered then! They released an EP last year which is available for the bank-busting amount of £1 via their bandcamp page, and it's worth a quid of anybody's hard earned. There are 3 tracks, the first, 'Among The Leaves' falls most definitely into the post-rock camp, taking bits of Godspeed! (particularly with the spoken vocals), Explosions In The Sky and Russian Circles and creating some gentle but good post-rock. 'Mountain' is more of the same but falling more into the traditional 'quiet bit, loud bit, quiet bit' pattern of post-rock, but it has a post-punk feel about it with Pavement springing to mind for some reason. Final track 'Jodan' initially adds some noise to the mix and it's none the worse for that and it evolves into a quiet, sinuous almost melancholic affair before the noise and spiky guitars bring it all to a satisfying end. Oh, and the artwork is fab, especially if you are a Marvel fan.