Labels: Double Dot Dash
Review by: Alex Hannan
WORKIN’ MAN NOISE UNIT are definitely trying to harness the “man-vibes” on this cassette, in the plums-out artwork as well as the song titles. Handle with care, the testosterone smells a bit curdled…
The thick layers of feedback and guitar noise layered over much of the tape half-camouflage some quite distinct flavours between the songs: a greasy garage rock tone for “Black leather energy”, a more stoner-rock sense of space on “Sicknote”, a Shellac-ish swagger on parts of “Workin’ man’s blues”. The guitar generally riffs away in its lower range, lockstepping with the bass to carry the tunes structurally while another layer of boiling distortion and feedback comes and goes over the top. Combine that with songs flirting with genres that normally feature hi-fidelity tube amp worship and you’ve got an interesting brew.
“Sweat it out” rides a neat rolling bass riff and a more lethargic vocal style into a central fuzz-out – this tune goes on a bit but the closing “Power tools for power drinkers” rescues the back end of the tape with more deep-fried stoner fun.
Double Dot Dash put the tape out, and their bandcamp has a bunch of interesting free compilations for download, worth a nosey. The new WORKIN’ MAN NOISE UNIT tape is up there too (this one is 5 months old). Would like to check em out live, think it could go either way – some charisma and a commitment to the noise-freakery could put these songs across well, but there’s also scope for it all to go a bit dude-rock…