German acid-blues rockers, Pretty Lightning absolutely slay on their latest full-length release, The Rhythm of Ooze.
Released digitally, on vinyl and CD by the great folks over at Fuzz Club Records, Ooze kicks like some sort of killer late-60’s Howlin’ Wolf/Black Angels/Dungen hybrid. Totally thick with thudding drums, scuzzy bluez riffs and wild psychedelic flourishes, this is a record that demands your attention from start to finish and must be played as loud as possible.
The duo’s surreally earthen, lysergic sound is perfectly represented by the trippy artwork on the record’s cover. For instance, “Loops” features dreamily phased vocals hovering above a hypnotically clomping beat, searing fuzz guitar lines and distorted, bubbling synths. Elsewhere on the album, fried surf guitars melt into hazy soundscapes (“Pale Yellow”), hints of July’s “Dandelion Seeds” mutate into a stoned march (”Tangerine Steam”) and reverb-cloaked guitars play angular and repetitive melodies over gooey keyboards and ethereal bells like some sort of lost commune-era Gong track (“Rainbow Fantasies”). As you can tell, listening to this record is one hell of an experience.
Growling with heavy acid fuzz and a completely fried atmosphere from start to finish, Pretty Lightning’s latest album is exactly what psych-rock freaks like myself have been waiting for. Get it from Fuzz Club ASAP and like I said before, play it fuckin’ loud.
-KH
Record Crates United 