1. Black Wire Pt. 1
2. Live in the Rhythm Hive
3. Joy of Sound
4. Watch it With That Thing
5. Drop the Needle
6. Earth Worm Pt. 1
7. Do You Like Gospel Music?
8. Come Up to the Microphone
9. Centre of the Earth
10. (I've Heard About) Saturday Nite
11. Earth Worm Pt. 2
12. Time Machine
13. Caught Up In the Rapture
14. Black Wire Pt. 2

This CD dropped onto my platter via serendipity and a beautiful connectivity, I’ve been playing it solidly for a week deciding whether or not to commit words to web, cautious of the coda herein regarding ‘worthiness’. Well, fuck it, it’s worthy as hell to me when I find myself desperately searching for a hairbrush to sing into whilst my long-neglected knees crack and twist towards the floor with the stomping and stripped-down beauty of this uber-squarking so-called ‘post-punk’ rawk-out.

Who are they? I don’t know, and there is little available literature to tell me other than they’re from the US, wear black, and number 4 members, these being:
Ian Svenonius - vocals
James Canty - guitar, organ and vocals
Michelle Mae - bass, vocals
Steve Gamboa – drums

Rarely these days do I hear an LP that first listen makes me go ‘hmmmuh?’, second time “yeah!”, third time “YEAAAAHHH” and by the fourth listen I’m tearing the house down with ill-appropriated vocal histrionics and fey (plain embarrasing) posturing that may or may not have suited me 15 years ago!


In Mass Mind is the sound of sharp glitter and amphibious sexuality, Svenonius’ yelps and shamanic squeals literally drag a grin across my face and set the night on fire. The sound of raw sexuality; “do you like the way we do it?…get on your knees please..” (Do You Like Gospel Music?) every song is struck through (barring ‘Drop The Needle’, which sticks out like a shite-disco sore thumb on a near flawless album) with an irresistible crossbred minimalist stomping. It’s that exquisite, barely-reigned-in pansexual pop attitude that twists your aural nipples without so much as a ‘by your leave?’. It sounds kinda punk when you aren’t looking, but really it’s both exquisite pop and lewd rock of the finest mien. Imagine James Brown singing with the Stooges and you’re somewhere near, yet in all honesty, the very best way I can describe ‘In Mass Mind’ is to take all my clothes off, draw badly all over myself and squeal like a lovesick sexpig at the moon. But that wouldn’t do on here, so I’ll try and write, argh.

‘Live in The Rhythm Hive’ is maybe the most compelling track yet in all honesty I skip around re-playing so many songs that eventually I have to give in and scream.

Masturbatory in the best possible sense, it’s going public with like-minded nearly-grown-ups. ‘Come up to the microphone’, the innuendo is thick and fast (ooyah!) and 5 listens are NEVER enough. It’s the sound of being 19 on a Friday night, the sound of grinding hips, raw, raw, raw. And those ecstatic YELPS kick me into my grave. There is LIFE here, and believe me, you WANT to have been born in a swamp and a bitten to death, just to be able to sing this way as you crawl your way upwards to claim hot and sultry desires that can only be SQUEALED! In the sexiest playroom in the world, we would all squeal softly and loudly at each other. Words supplanted by wiggles and cat-like purrs or hisses. The best words here are the ones barely recognisable on account of their being yelped. Glorious.

‘Watch It With That Thing’ is simply one of the most delicious slices of lewd-rawk I’ve ever heard. fuzztronic sex slaves hot with sauce. I’ll have a dozen please…

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