Mythology

良い意味でフリークに寄りすぎたクリエイター達の小宇宙であるフィラデルフィア。そんなフィラデルフィアを拠点に活動する"WRITHING SQUARES"の傑作すぎる、熱すぎる、最高すぎる、などといった幼稚な言葉でしか表現できなくなるほどに強烈なパンチを持つアルバム『MYTHOLOGY』がTROUBLE IN MINDからリリース!

ジャンクショップなどに出回る廃品などを用い、ニュージャージーの地下室に自分たちの音の実験室を作りあげレコーディングやミックスを行い制作させたという中々にインパクトの強い制作秘話が込められている本作『MYTHOLOGY』。全く新しい環境でサウンドを一から再構築したためもあってか、2021年にリリースされた前作『CHART FOR THE SOLUTION』に見られた宇宙、SF、近未来を彷彿とさせるような煌びやかな実験精神は成りを潜め、シャープかつ黒煙が全方位へと舞い上がると共に、錆びてしまった鎖の匂いと砂埃が充満するアンダーグラウンドへと急接近した事をリスナーへと知らしめる内容であり、"WRITHING SQUARES"が新たな境地を切り開いたアルバムであると言えるでしょう。

今作を皮切りに、"RITHING SQUARES"がこれから先どのような未知の空間を切り開いてくれるのか楽しみで仕方がありません。

Philly group the Writhing Squares sharpen their claws and dig into a gnarlier reading of their galactic clatter on their fourth album Mythology. In their earlier days, the band was a duo of Kevin Nickles and Daniel Provenzano, working with a limited toolkit of saxophone, bass, and raw electronics that melted together into murky grooves and noisy space rock freakouts. As the project went on, however, they expanded their range. The 2021 double album Chart for the Solution looked at their sound from all angles and fidelity, going from under-produced basement jams to fully orchestrated cosmic rockers with live drums, a relatively newer element for the Squares at that point. Drummer John Schoemaker appeared on the final song of that album, but became a more regular presence throughout Mythology, adding a human feel to the bands extraterrestrial punk that drum machines simply didnt offer. Songs like opening tune "Barbarians" and the relentlessly chugging "The Damned Thing" make the most of Schoemakers powerful drumming, smashing out heavy bass riffs and abrasive, scene-stealing sax blasts to beats not too far removed from the Melvins or Jesus Lizard. The Writhing Squares formula up to this point was some strange amalgamation of Stooges swagger and Hawkwind astronautics, with plenty of noise experimentalism dirtying the mix. These fundamentals are still in place throughout Mythology, but the songs rock harder, scream louder, and writhe in an agony more profound. Uptempo "LEM" is filthy, chaotic punk that ends with dual sax soloing, while the fuzz- and phaser-bathed "Eternity" is on par with Chrome in terms of apocalyptic urgency. Even with a more rock-geared approach, the band still gets into the same kind of outer reaches experimentation that they have on previous releases. Free-form sax instrumental "Ferrell" (a tribute to free jazz legend Pharoah Sanders) is a dance between horn and delay effects, and "Chromatophage" is an amusical bombardment of squishy synthesizers, computer drum patterns, and acidic noise. Mythology is as ungrounded and intense as the Writhing Squares have ever sounded, which is saying something for a band so prone to dissonance. Its a new chapter in their sound, one thats more grimier and more dangerous without completely losing the deep space mysticism of what came before it. ~ Fred Thomas