MOUNTAINS AND RAINBOWS - Particles

Matthew Ziolkowski, aka Matt Z, is the longtime drummer of Tyvek, one of the most prominent outfits of the Detroit garage-rock scene. Alongside that band's frontman, Kevin Boyer, plus a handful of other musicians, he's also spent a decade sharing another project, Mountains And Rainbows, albeit with the roles reversed, this time in the shoes of the leader. Friendship and collaborations with fellow townsmen Protomartyr, a couple of now-obscure singles released nine years ago, and a cassette put out in an extremely limited run in 2014: that was the entire résumé of this Michigan side project when it found itself opening, on home turf in the Midwest metropolis, for a Thee Oh Sees show. Even with Boyer already off to other commitments, the remaining five must have sparked quite a fire on that stage, enough to convince John Dwyer on the spot to offer to polish up and promote their songs through his label, Castle Face.

The rest is recent history: the long-awaited debut, "Particles", has been in stores on double vinyl since last May, and the band was quickly snapped up for live dates by major names on the circuit, such as Super Furry Animals.

Now wobbly and anemic ("AM 580"), now vicious as cheese graters ("Sycamore Tree"), the guitars offer themselves up in a riot of lacerations while the emphatic, Iggy Pop-style vocals send the hysteria levels through the roof. Right from the start, this ramshackle war machine delivers a fierce, high-proof garage-punk performance, while not shying away from the occasional foray into psychobilly territory, paying indirect tribute to idol Lux Interior and his Cramps ("See How They Run").

Shredded romanticism and raucous verve round out the picture of references on a particularly euphoric first side, also bringing to mind the jagged heart-wringing of kindred spirit Billy Childish (with whom they also share an unwillingness to pause for breath) or the clownish hilarity of the best King Tuff ("Dying To Meet You"), though without the glam swagger. On "Treat Your Mind", a cameo from a decidedly swollen sax instead pulls things forcefully toward the vice-laden psych-soul joint venture between King Khan and German outfit Shrines.

In the second half, the scenery shifts abruptly and the record literally frays into a series of vignettes with, on the surface, no organizing logic whatsoever — the particles or fragments the album's title alludes to. Mountains And Rainbows thus show they're not above indulging in a deconstructionist fury worthy of the most extreme projects bearing the name Robert Pollard, channeling their vehemence into bouts of noise-making that are particularly incoherent, sadistic and spineless — tracks with a markedly experimental ambition that gleefully corrupt the dictates of song form in favor of a torrential flow of sonic impressions ("Fancies", "With Beefheart").

The band proves highly interesting in this more abstract guise too, stringing together a run of genuinely incredible, deranged tracks, with more than a few echoes of Akron Family. Thrown into the mix are also sweet hillbilly evocations ("I'm A Peaceful Man"), exercises in garage-pop miniaturism in the style of White Fence ("Ma'am"), and spectral psychedelic exorcisms redolent of the late Sixties ("Vision Of Sanity"), on top of the four installments of the "Beach Jam" series, delicate lo-fi surf-calypso jokes. All told, it's a fine, hallucinated journey through nearly half a century of outcast music and alternative rock, never once giving up a certain diseased or irreducibly alien inflection (the superb twilight of "Faulter").

And what about the affinities with the creations of their mentor, one might ask? Few, if you set aside the shared playful or naive streak that emerges especially in the most scatterbrained titles of the bunch, chief among them a title track that recalls the primordial sludge of Dwyer's early work under the Ocs name.

With all these crazy clues in place, what emerges is the portrait of a multidimensional band, in one of the few debuts worth remembering from a year that — without much fanfare — is now heading into the archives.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

22/12/2016