The music of HXXS is out there. Abrasive and ear-spitting in spots, The Year of the Witch, out on Friday via Captured Tracks, reveals Jeannie Colleene and Gavin Neves to be brave musicians. The album is nothing if not a foolhardy journey into the darkest realms of art rock and noise stuff, the performances here shocking in their risk-taking.
"Last Days of Magic" is percussive and manic, Jeannie's vocals railing over a jittery rhythm, while "Year of the Witch" is even rougher, beats thrown about here like something from an old Atari Teenage Riot record while the vocals wail like Diamanda Galas. Elsewhere, "No Price on that Power" is almost pretty in spots, the squalling noise of the backing track wrapping itself like a metallic snake around the vocal-line, while "Double Down" is funky, the Tom Tom Club on a boat to hell. HXXS really sound like nothing else out there today, and if Year of the Witch isn't an easy listen, at least it's an invigorating one throughout.
Year of the Witch is out on Friday via Captured Tracks.
More details on HXXS via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Shawn Brackbill]