Twisted Village
By night,under the auspices of their group Major Stars, Wayne and Kate areequally enthusiastic purveyors of hard, loud and ferocious nonstop rockn' roll ecstasy. They've opened up for Comets on Fire on tour, eventhough their brand of high-octane, often instrumental rock is heavierand more substantial than the Comets' most wishful daydreams. This isnot to suggest that they are superior; rather that they are more pure,unadulterated and outright, unashamedly rawk. People who like to namethings call Major Stars a "psychedelic" rock band, but they're no more"psychedelic" than the sludge at the bottom of your Turkish coffee.What they are is kick-your-ass, balls-to-the-wall, energized freeformrock, full of big fat hairy riffs and powerful dynamics, rapidlyswitching gears to chase the next monstrous pummeling chordprogression. The foursome gel perfectly on stage, and this record,their first to be recorded in a state-of-the-art 25-track studio,captures the group beautiful, and is perhaps the best reflection yet oftheir live sound on record. The only things missing are the flyingsweat droplets and the heady breeze created by Kate's headbanging,hair-tossing stage theatrics. There are only four tracks and about 40minutes of music, but when the rock is this meat-and-potatoes, it can'thelp but leave me satisfied, even though I certainly wouldn't turn downseconds. "How To Be" wastes no time introducing their particular brandof crashing, resounding guitars, sounding exactly like Lester Bang'shyperbole-filled description of a Who gig, rather than what The Whoreally sounded like. The background is filled with a solid wall ofguitar runoff, Casey Keenan's caveman rhythms, forming a backdrop forWayne's soul-shredding post-Hendrix guitar performance, pulling farmore sound out of his instrument than should be physically possible."Song For Turner" is long and lyric-less, a study in reigned-in rockchaos if ever there was one, pausing for some detuned guitar noiseevery now and then, shifting to another rhythm and key when it suitsthem. It's totally accessible and totally grandiose, leading into thealbum's power-pop pit-stop "All Or Half the Time," which rivals TheBevis Frond for pure, pleasurable rock songcraft. Ending thingsbrilliantly is the 15-minute "Phantom #1," which starts out as slowlyshifting modal guitar drone, totally thick and hypnotic, beforeintroducing rhythm and rapidly upping the tempo until the song hasbecome a roof-lifting heavy metal beast, grinning and majestic. Nobullshit: Major Stars is just damned good rock music, so how come youhaven't heard this yet?
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