Burn her anyway!

A double post today because I haven't posted in a week. Firstly, there is the matter of atheism and the stupidity of organized religion. I've started reading a piece by Sam Harris called An Atheist Manifesto which you should definitely take a few minutes to read. Organized religion and its opposition to progress and rational thought is intolerable. I'm tired of putting up with religious bullshit for the sake of "openness" and "dialogue" and "understanding" when the other side is beholden to a worldview that has been roundly rejected by learned people the world over and refuses to recognize that fact. I guess this is my day-after-easter post. ha ha!
Anyway, that having been removed from my chest, I can get down to the business of supporting amazing music.

Witch - s/t
TeePee Records
7 March 2006
5 stars

Okay, I tried starting this review about seven different ways. All of them were either completely uninteresting or too long-winded before even getting to the point. And as the number seven is one of my favorites, I gave up and decided, "Fuck it, I'll just tell the folks straight up: this album is fucking great." There ya go.

Now maybe the fact that Dinosaur Jr was the first band I ever loved had some subconscious effect on me so that I had to like this on account of the J Mascis-involvement-factor. But Witch is not really DJ at all and to tell the truth, I never bothered to get into J + The Fog. Anyway, J is back behind the kit here, and this is super-fuzzed-psych-rock so out goes that explanation. The real story here must be that this album is comprised of 7 (ooh!) amazing songs that stick straight to the resin that lines the inside of your skull (at least my skull).

Guitar lines like maple syrup are accentuated by some fantastic Big Muff buzz which offsets percussion recorded with a surprising crispness. The vocals are also quite distinct; like the nasally voice of a grizzled old storyteller from the throat of a young man. The album as a whole is very warm and the production is nearly spot-on. I think the only issue I have with this record is that the bass is too often lost in the mix. You can certainly feel it in there, it just isn't allowed to stand out as much, which is a bit disappointing. I guess I wish a lyric sheet was included, too, but otherwise this album (including the cover art) is a spectacular piece of work from start to finish. And just to confirm, these guys killed live a couple weeks ago here in Brooklyn, so go see them when they come around to your town.