Heavy Heavy Low Low

Turtle Nipple And The Toxic Shock

Written by: PP on 29/08/2008 15:30:42

Already on their previous album, Heavy Heavy Low Low were so strange that I was at a loss of words of how to describe them, let alone to give them a rating at all, as you might remember from its review two years ago. So imagine me popping on "Turtle Nipple And The Toxic Shock" and realizing that the band were only on first gear on their debut, and have now switched to at least third gear. The band is more ridiculous than ever (believe it or not), as evident in song titles such as "Hahahahahahahaha", "How Many Dad's Must Eat Themselves?" or "H.D.EYE Hybrid Cyborg", but to my great delight, have also discovered how to simultaneously write good songs in the process!

After the 'laughing track' opener, which essentially has nothing but wind-effects in it for 30 seconds, the band launches into the strange-core/math-core track "Giant Mantis. Vs Turt Nip". The track shouldn't possibly be able to make any sense with its jazz-interludes, strange yells, coarse screaming, soaring vocals, alternative rock hooks, metallic breakdowns, moshcore passages, elements of sheer noise, and of course a heavy focus on the effects board. How exactly that chaos forms into a coherent track, which, against all odds, is actually pretty catchy, requires a couple of Ph.D's in quantum physics to understand, I'm sure. You aren't given much time to figure out what's going on in each song either, as the average song length on the record is somewhere around the 1:30 minute mark, with the whole album lasting roughly around 25 minutes, excluding the 12 minutes of fade-in/fade-out distortion on the appropriately titled closing track "Please, That Bitch Will Outlive Us All". Listening to these jazz-metal arrangements and Robert Smith's vocal insanity really makes HORSE The Band sound like an ordinary rock band from the radio airwaves. I've said this already a couple of times during this review, but you just can't say it enough about Heavy Heavy Low Low: this album just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. It ridicules your ability to comprehend music, changes all your preconceptions about how music must work structurally (or sonically, for that matter), by constantly throwing impossible time signatures, rhythm changes and style changes at you, expecting you to keep track. Watching this band live must be an incredible experience, as because of how the music sounds, the band should probably look like five spastic dudes on stage with an extreme form of ADD.

As such, it's difficult to form a comprehensive opinion on whether to like Heavy Heavy Low Low or not. You'll most likely find them genius and retarded at the same time, because their music lures you in and shuns you out at the same time. In my books, they are easily the most eccentric, bizarre, grotesque, uncanny, erratic band around. You really need to hear it to believe it.

Download: "Giant Mantis Vs Turt Nip", "3000,100 Points, 100pts, Gummy Octopi"
For the fans of: HORSE The Band, The Fall Of Troy, Fear Before The March Of Flames
Listen: Myspace

Release date 19.08.2008
Ferret Music

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