Sofa King Killer "Midnight Magic" CD
[Retribute]
Ahhh, I think this is, all in all, probably the best material yet from this unusual band of southern tinged sludge artists. This stuff is heavy and nasty, but a lot more rocked out to me... I don't know, there's just more consistent movement to the riffing, and they bring in some late-70's influences that are really manipulated in a memorable and unique way compared to most of this genre. The venomous vocals are better than ever, too. Just bitter midrange screams with an excellent filter of light distortion, blending them in perfectly against the music. The bass tone isn't that evident at all times, but the guitars are nice and dirty, and the drums sound awesome. I don't mind the recording at all, though upping some bass would make it even better. "Don't Slow Me Down" is a bit more pissed off with more attitude, which rules, bringing in a little bit of a Motörhead sort of punk aesthetic, without neglecting a few slower and heavier note based riffs, but the variations throughout the record as such are pretty vague. There are no great departures from their consistent form of rockin' out. The layout rules on this one, using lots of high contrast artwork with red and light blue being the only colors (in addition to black and white, of course). There's a lot of weird layered imagery and repeating patterns, so it definitely jumps out at you. As expected the lyrics are a little strange, but that fits this record well: "Yeah, that banjo was a good ol' boy. Killed five inside the square and ready for more. The family remains a legacy. Dead game. The dogmen came the southern states to see the thirty-five-pound hell on wheels breaking legs." I like it. I'm not totally in awe over this thing, but it's a damn solid piece of work. The band's fans shouldn't be let down, and those who are into labels like Meteor City would definitely be advised to look into these guys. (7/10)
Running time - 38:08, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: No Other Path to Pursue, Don't Slow Me Down, Holy Bottle]
Retribute Records - http://www.retributerecords.com

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