Sonic Jesus : "Neither Virtue Nor Anger"

This came out back in April , but it's the time of the year when it's time to catch up on everything I might have missed out on earlier in the year so we are going to give this project out of Italy a listen. Interpol was the first though that crossed my mind, when the album began. It carries a dreamier drone than those guys normally dip into these days. They get louder than most indie rock you would might hear this side of Mogwai. Things gain momentum on "Triumph". The vocals stay at a bleak baritone, that reminds me of some of A Place to Bury Strangers more melodic moments. It comes close to being post-punk and if they rock any more than this they will cross the line over into it. Though the attitude doesn't strike me as quiet as sardonic. "Reich" find female vocals joining in to push it's shadowy shuffle over into more post-punk territory.

There is a slight 60s surf vibe around the fuzzed bass of "Sweet Suicide" the vocals are consumed by the effect, a voice there but not lyrics make it through the murk.The droning throb of "Dead" really only works because the layers of keyboards that continue to build off of it. There is a re-verb heavy western strum to 'Lost Reprise" that could have been on an old Chris Isaak record. This takes a turn into a the type of morphine soaked night driving ballads that Jesus and the Mary Chain once churned out.This is a much more narcotic drone that the Velvet Underground would have been proud of. There is a psychedelic feel to "Paranoid Palace", this gives it a slight Doors undercurrent. They stay in 60s freak out mode for "Drift 22" which is darker and more cavernous than anything on the album up to this point , but also carries a weird upbeat go-go circus vibe. These guys are very organic in much the same manner of a band like the Estranged , Sonic Jesus just pulls their influences from different corners.

 If Tarintino decides to make a vampire western then he needs to make sure and put "Monkey on my back" on the soundtrack. The vocals warble underneath the "Planet Caravan" like effects dripping from them. It builds into a slightly more rock intensity as it maintains it's cool strut. The more electronic "Whore is Death' could be considered kraut rock , cover all this seems more like an interlude than an actual song. The twangy guitar that drives "My Lunacy" has a great tone. "Luxury" has the organ and the bass locked in on the same groove that they eventually build up like this is a Hawkwind song. Overall these guys are onto something good, while their influences bubble to the surface they have created something that is there own. I'll give this a 9.