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***Forged in the Garden City (that's Missoula, Montana to you, piker), Ex-Cocaine is the formidable, sneer-wielding duo of Bryan Ramirez (guitars, effects, vocals) and Mike C (percussion, hexes, spells). Their debut LP from 2005, Keep America Mellow (on Ramirez's Killertree label) brought to light heavy august vibes steeped in the tippled, woodbine 'n' cider electro-folk of Michael Chapman, Steve Peregrine Took, Roy Harper, and other more reclusive Anglo biscuit-snuffers whose works haunt the archives of Kissing Spell and Shadoks. On their second effort, Ex-Cocaine throw down hard, evoking a gnarled bonfire with flames that roar thunderously like the detuned, rockist clang of Dead C's Harsh '70s Reality, and burns evenly like the smelted, Rust Belt psychedelia of Stone Harbour's Emerges. Vinyl-only and limited, the sparks are flying off this one already. Catch it if you can. Working pretty much from a template of congas and electric fuzz, these heavy mellow bros conjure up swirling eddies of lo-fi, DIY psych that are pretty unbeatable. Were we to have a seance--or simply break out a Ouija Board--to investigate previous blazers of their trail, we might see, hear or spell out such luminaries as Steve Peregrine Took, Stone Harbour, Parameter, Tim Buckley or (Jandek's) Units. --Siltblog |
