The debut album from Brooklyn group Russian Baths, Deep Fake, covers some familiar territory. But the duo of Jess Rees (guitar, vocals) and Luke Koz (guitar, vocals) manage to make this stuff feel fresh to a large degree. Deepfake, out on Friday via Good Eye Records, is fairly invigorating for fans of these forms.
Opener "Responder" is an epic roar through the void, the tune recalling as it progresses bits of Swervedriver's best material from a few decades ago, while the even better "Parasite" nods in the direction of Slowdive, even if the guitars are turned up louder. At their very best here on Deepfake, like on the fuzzy "Tracks", Russian Baths sound a tiny bit like current Brit duo Young Romance, but Russian Baths are more interested in the obliterating power of noise than those two are. Russian Baths let this stuff totally carry them away in spots, with "Wrong" and "Ambulance" especially proving just how much life is left in the old shoegaze form. On "Tremble" there's a nice mix of that kind of thing with sounds that recall later Nirvana offerings, and one sort of sits back and lets the feedback work its magic. A listener can get lost in this stuff fairly easily, as can this duo, but at least this material is fairly concise and easily digestible.
Deepfake is out on Friday via Good Eye Records.
More details on Russian Baths via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: A.F. Cortes]