If Big Black and The Stooges had had access to lots of synths, and chosen to use them, the resulting music would have sounded like what's here on Into The Country, the newest album from Spray Paint. The release, out on Friday via 12XU, features discordant and jarring rockers that punch every bit as hard as the music of bands I just referenced above, even if the tunes all rely on electronic instrumentation in spots.
"Keep On Googlin'" is Neil Young circa-Trans worked up about a love gone wrong, while "Alcohol Surface" is even more abrasive. It's a catchy bit of business, but it's also damn near close to sounding like something from Fad Gadget. Elsewhere, "Squeaker's Theme" is nearly jaunty, while the far better "Looking for Work" mixes faintly industrial elements with a direct kind of rock-and-roll.
Spray Paint create a real sense of unease in a listener, but the discomfort is tempered with the hooks and riffs here, even if they all sound like they are being played by machines. Or at least a bunch of ne'er-do-wells programming the machines, especially so on epic closer, "Cleaning Your Gun", this album's homage to early Kraftwerk.
Into the Country will be out via 12XU on Friday.
More details on Spray Paint via the band's official Facebook page, or via http://sprayingpaint.biz/.
[Photo: 12XU]