Johnny Olson and Nate Young have been fucking with us for a quarter of a century. They are trouble-makers, noise-niks, and bad eggs. They've turned their mean streak into a string of records as Wolf Eyes. Abrasive to a fault, the punishing (at times maybe) sound from these two has been proof that the spirit of the counter-culture is alive and well with those making -- for lack of a better term -- noise rock on the underground.
The duo's new one, Dreams in Splattered Lines, is out now via Disciples, and it's as bracing as a fan of these two would expect. Opener "Car Wash Two w/Short Hands" is a mess, a wonderful mess of noise, while "Plus Warning" is free jazz and paranoia. "My Whole Life" and the wonderfully-titled "The Museums We Carry" suggest a diminishing of the force of this duo, or a re-focusing of it. Young and Olson don't sound like they trying to burn down the world here, just sort of navigate the disaster with samples, scratchy bursts of feedback, and pulses and throbs of bass or drum loops. Elsewhere, "Find You (Vocal)" conjures memories of early Throbbing Gristle as well as "Nag Nag Nag"-era Cabaret Voltaire, while "Days Decay" ropes in a sonic nod or two in the direction of Fad Gadget.
Wolf Eyes are part of a tradition of electronic music, one which is industrial in attitude even. Dreams in Splattered Lines is one of the best releases from the duo in years, and one which is oddly accessible. The sounds here are still somewhat unsettling, and even disturbing, but overall the record sits as a nice summary of the dark strengths of this pair, and a reminder that even after a quarter-century, Johnny Olson and Nate Young are capable of turning up the volume on the strangest parts of our nightmares.
Dreams in Splattered Lines by Wolf Eyes is out now via Disciples.
[Photo: Alivia Zivich]