I'm no expert on Japan's prolific and always unpredictable Boris, but I've always felt that I enjoy their earliest work a little more than anything else (granted there are a number of records in their rather extensive discography that I haven't even heard). I think a part of that has stemmed from the fact that when it comes to the sludgy, drone-centered kind of thing there's only so much I can take without getting bored—I just have a terribly short attention span. So, while I still feel like my favorite Boris material came at the start, I was pretty shocked by the diverse and much more lively direction that they're taking on their latest Southern Lord release, "Pink", which plows through everything from relaxing cascades of melodic drones coupled with monotone singing to grittily pulsing 70's psych rock with a twist. The prevalence of so much vocal work alone comes as a shock (As does the fact that on the other hand some of the coolest songs herein are instrumental—or close to it!?), but the fact that several of the more rocked out tracks are practically straightforward in their stripped down attack is certainly not what I had in mind. None of this is to say that they've abandoned a certain degree of ragingly fuzzed out noise or throbbing low-end pulses, but the end result is 11 tracks in just about an hour that range from fewer than two minutes to more than 18 minutes. So, while there are a couple of less interesting moments, there are also some true winners that hold your interest while proving that the band's constant experimentation with their delivery can and will strike gold.
Boris "Blackout"
Boris "Woman on the Screen"
This disc isn't officially out until mid-May, but the label's already selling it. All the diehard fans probably already knew that, but for everyone else:
Comments
I scored the Japanese release a while back. I haven’t really been able to get into Boris save for that one track on the Tomsk 7 split…but for some reason I keep trying them out, they change a lot though, so there’s a good chance that one of these albums will fuckin’ destroy in my opinion…I’m still waiting on that album though.
4.27.2006 | By Carlzilla
This is the perfect album for people who have never heard Boris to check out. It has a bit of every style that they play.
My personal favorite is still “Heavy Rocks!” straight 70s/stoner rock done to perfection. That needs to be released outside japan, without the stephen o malley fuck job on the art! I think the visual asthetic of the original releases gives a much different(better) impression of what they are going to sound like. No i’m not a southernlord hater(i do like omalleys job on dronevil and sunbakedsnowcave). Compare the japanese orginal to the southernlord release and tell me the japanese one does not fit the overall mood of the music better.
4.27.2006 | By Zach
i haven’t seen the art for SL’s ‘pink’ yet but i own the Jap version and it’s one of the nicest designs i’ve seen in some time. Fangs Anal Satan does killer work. my friend who has seen the SL version of ‘pink’ said the layout is horrible.
but yeah, i agree that ‘pink’ is a great place to start with Boris. has a bit of all their styles in one package. i still can’t fully get into these guys though yet keep on buying their shit.
4.27.2006 | By -cja
really great album, one of my favourite of all times.
6.21.2009 | By deathblow