EP Review - Swords Of Texas ' Too Weird To Live , Too Rare To Die'

Crashing into 2012 with all the feverish , hallucinogenic fury of a Hunter S. Thompson  mescaline binge, Swords Of Texas is the twisted brain child of Hamilton ,Ontario shaman/whackjob Schmoog Lebowski(a founding member, apparently, of 13 Bags Of Dick) , and is seemingly  the product of too little sleep, too many out of date pharmaceuticals ,a five string bass, a beat up four track and an old keyboard leaning up against the wall.The results are terrifying and intoxicating in equal measure.

Five tracks of seething, molten psychedelia, Too Weird To Live , Too Rare To Die  is a fascinating exploration in gloomy, almost gothic psychedelic sounds,,and nods to krautrock , most notably  in the spacey malevolence of  tracks like 'el Cid Zombie Chase',and the eerie burnout of closer ' Valkyrie Hymn', the latter assaulting the listener with some sickeningly low slung , de-tuned sludgy  bass sounds, and unsettling , almost chant- like distorted vocals. The overall effect is like having acid dropped into your morning coffee unexpectedly, and then being dragged off to some sort of  space rock equivalent to Orwell's dreaded Room 101, to have your mind ripped apart  . . .

As an omen of where the stoner/psyche/sludge underground is heading in 2012, it's undoubtedly a good one, as for the EP itself, it's an enjoyably whacked out piece of work, that deserves to be blared from some monolithic speakers as one loses their mind on all manner of nasty substances. Fucked up, and fabulously so.

Rating :8/10
For fans of :Acid Mother's Temple, OM,(early) Pink Floyd
Stephen O ' Connor
bornagainnihilist@gmail.com
Listen here: http://swordsoftx.bandcamp.com/album/too-weird-to-live-too-rare-to-die