Browsing Tag

Scuzz

Buddy J Francis – Paralysed by Fear: Avant-Warped-Garde Psych Rock

Posted on 22 November 2023

Adelaide’s most endearingly audacious artist, Buddy J Francis suited himself in pink and his sound in psychonautic scuzz for his latest installation of Avant-Warped-Garde psych rock, Paralysed by Fear.

Each of the kaleidoscopically fuzzed instrumentals you hear on the release was individually tracked, giving the progressions plenty of mind-melting volition to captivate listeners within the lo-fi production, which laments the stagnancy that being afraid to take life-altering leaps breeds.

Even with so many experimental layers to his work between his instrumental experimentation, tongue-in-cheek guises and lyrical conceptuality, it is all too easy to get on the same level as the artist, who has transcended parody to deliver deliciously delirious subversion.

If Paralysed by Fear racks up 10k streams on Spotify in the first week, Buddy J Francis has vowed to get his nipple pierced, allowing his staunch fanbase to get their sonic and sadistic kicks in one swing.

Thankfully, there are fewer conditions attached to the imminence of his forthcoming LP, which Paralysed by Fear snuck out of prematurely; it is set to arrive in early 2024. Keep Francis on your radar for it, and undoubtedly other outlandish antics via Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

UK alt-rock act Sustinere bit back in their fuzzed-up hit, Rabies Part 2

Posted on 13 April 2023

Brimming up from the North Wales Borderlands, the grungy alt-rock duo, Sustinere, implanted more idiosyncratically electric energy onto the airwaves with their latest single, Rabies Part 2.

After coming together through a love of Royal Blood and Nirvana, making pulverising stripped-back rock became a cornerstone of their manifesto, and Sustinere effortlessly succeeded with this hook-rife hit that will melodically tattoo itself to your temporal lobe from your first rendezvous with it. The zany croons across the monolithically scuzzy guitars proved to be an addictive recipe that only these artisans of angst can concoct.

It is more than refreshing to find an act who only takes their sound seriously and leaves all pretension at the door of the recording studio. Their tongue in cheeky cheek energy and aesthetics is the antithesis of what you would expect from your run-of-the-mill artist; Sustinere practically detonated the factory with their single that revolves around the morbidly endearing reprise of “I had to put my baby down”.

Watch the hilariously self-ironic music video for Rabies Part 2 by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast