Soundings / Shapers / Verma Split

A three-way split? Where do splits leave off and compilations begin? 60 minutes of sludgy garage, splattered experimental, and gunky organic noise from three of the gnarliest psych rockers in Chicago. It's all good stuff--maybe not the most accessible, but I loved it--it would probably sound even better in a dingy club with terrible acoustics, slimy brick walls and utilities pipes snaking overhead and threatening to crush you at any moment. Recommended for those who have a few Wooden Shjips, Hive Mind, or Wolf Eyes recordings under their belts. You might also like it if you also enjoyed the Earthmasters or A Full Cosmic Sound releases that just cycled through the A-File.

*1. (8:48) Wooden Shjips washed out psych rock with a slow intro. Awesome!
2. (4:57) Refrigerator noises, stalling typewriters. Experimental as hell.
*3. (2:50) Loose noise rock with great squeals of guitar.
*4. (4:30) More noise rock—bigger and badder than ever.
5. (3:59) Gibberish distorted vocals, sparse noisy background. More outsider than “experimental.”
*6. (4:55) Echoed forward-thinking percussion with a minimal drone background and the occasional noisy guitar eruption. Moody and sparse. I liked this one a lot.
7. Sludgy doom—wicked amounts of gain and big thundering drums.
8. Light and airy with an interesting use of a gritty, distorted electric violin