BXI, better read as Boris + Ian, is a seemingly odd collaboration between Japanese experimental/stoner/metal/drone/doom giants, Boris, and everyone’s favourite spiritual tambourine shaker (when he’s not wearing a track suit and pretending to be Jim Morrison, that is), Ian Astbury. Personally though, I was stoked when the news first dropped about this hook-up because it seemed to me that throwing a huge stack of noise behind the salty ol’ shaman might actually resurrect his inner love child. I think it’s done just that. The four-song EP kicks off with “Teeth and Claws” and sure enough, Boris’ slow, deep, melodious rhythm goads Astbury’s voice into prophetic incantations about love, illumination, renewal, and salvation. Then Boris drops a brutally heavy, attacking riff on “We Are Witches” as Astbury grows larger at the pulpit, casting an army of one thousand ravens into the night. It ends, quite fittingly, with “Magickal Child,” the all-encompassing comedown, a sweetly distorted lysergic ballad full of atmospheric soul, but not before the procession is interrupted for Boris’ Astbury-less cover of The Cult’s “Rain,” which is a stand-out here thanks to its truly remarkable psychedelic pop vibe and guitarist Wata’s ghostly, porcelain voice. The power of BXI is mighty, brothers and sisters. Let it compel you.
Torche/Boris Chapter Ahead Being Fake split 10″
Hydra Head
All right, so this one was really released late last year on CD in Japan by Daymare Records, but Hydra Head has just re-released it on these shores on 10″ vinyl (it comes in black, clear light pink, opaque hot pink with purple splatter, opaque light orange, and opaque purple with orange splatter), so it’s worth mentioning. Besides, it’s Torche and Boris, and I don’t really need a reason to talk about either of them, do I? Whether you snagged it last year or are just getting into it now, you’re probably doing so because new material from both of these bands is still forthcoming. Actually, it’s not gonna be too much longer now; Torche’s Songs for Singles will be out in September while Boris’ collaboration with Ian Astbury, called BXI, will be out in August. Anyway, Torche’s “King Beef” occupies side A, and frankly, it’s not one of their better songs. They’ve replaced their usual, awesome brand of sludgy melody with a post-apocalyptic clamour, and the whole thing just sounds like storm clouds gathering. You’ll be waiting for the lightning but it never comes. Side B contains Boris’ “Luna,” a 12 minute long showcase of the band’s schizophrenic approach to genre bending. The song moves from black metal trickery to ambient shoe-gazing to stoner fuzz riffola while the vocals breeze right along over top the whole thing. It’s a strange mess, but as always, Boris seem to have it all figured out.
(The Japanese cover)
Check out the video for Torche’s “King Beef” from Chapter Ahead Being Fake!
Remember when I reviewed the new Crazy Lixx album awhile back and went on about how their music fueled a lot of my wild nights when I was single and careless? Yeah, well you can throw Norway’s Wig Wam right into that magical mix too because I cranked the hell out of their first two albums, Hard to be a Rock’N'Roller…in Kiev and Wig Wamania during those days, like I wasn’t ever going to make it back home. The usual stand-outs for getting the party going were “Daredevil Heat” or “A Rock’N'Roll Girl Like You” or “Car-Lyle” and before you knew it I was actually reaching for a can of hairspray and some eyeliner. It’s been four years since Wig Wamania (the catchy choruses are still ringing in my ears) and I have no idea what the band’s been up to since then, but if I had to guess I’d say they were probably living large in Japan, where hair metal trumps all, soaking in their Eurovision* fame, getting fat on adulation, and writing more insanely catchy choruses for their new album, Non Stop Rock’N'Roll.
BXI
Torche/Boris
(The Japanese cover)
Wig Wam