CD Review: Battlehooch's Unabashed Nonsense

By Tyler Corelitz

Battlehooch's debut EP OOF OWF has already garnered much-deserved respect within the Bay Area and beyond. It is a self-made wonder-work of psychedelic rock, funk, and unabashed nonsense. All four of the disc's creations are heavily orchestrated movements featuring all manner of percussion, guitars, and driving bass, with some classy Zappa-inspired horns popping up whenever necessary. Vocals are present but one gets the feeling that the listener is less expected to sing along than they are to dance. (more >>)

Opener "Boog Woogily" is one of the highlights, both live and recorded, and begins with a few stuttering yells and instrumental guffaws, on its way to becoming what on first listen could be mistaken for a more lucid reworking of The Simpsons' theme song. All of the "kitchen sink" percussion, plus the band's live theatrics (headbands, face-paint, sillystring?) bring to mind acts like Man Man and their own musical influences. Unlike Man Man, who seem locked to an indie-rock adaptation of Captain Beefheart et al, Battlehooch isn't willing to become pegged to a single sound or even a singular grouping of sounds, as OOF OWF closer "When We're Trying to Be Quiet" is rooted half in '60s psychedelia and half in early-'90s grunge. This last track had me coming back for repeated listens, most likely due to the strong vocals and because it sounded vaguely similar to San Francisco psych project Sleepy Sun, of who I am very fond.

Taken as a whole, the most impressive thing about OOF OWF is that as such an ambitious first release, it still manages to leave room for further exploration and growth. Furthering this is the fact that in order to really understand and appreciate the album and the band you can't merely listen to one song on MySpace. OOF OWF demands to be heard from front to back, back to front, and then only with an accompanying trip to a live performance will the listener truly be able to understand and appreciate one of the most unique and talented bands the Bay Area has to offer at the moment. Battlehooch is definitely going to continue to ask for, and get attention.

Hella

MySpace (listen to "Republic of Rough and Ready," "Rich Kid")
Official site
Hometown: Sacramento/San Francisco
Next local show: 2/28, Bottom of the Hill
Upcoming release: There's No 666 in Outer Space, 2007

Hella aren't officially based in San Francisco, but we just had to share the news: they've expanded to a five-piece! In addition to founders Spencer Seim and Zach Hill, the band now includes Zach's cousin Josh Hill (guitar), Advantage/Crime in Choir member Carson McWhirter (bass), and Nevada City butcher-cum-singer Aaron Ross. Does this bode hella well for the band's new record, due Jan. 30 on Orinda's Ipecac Recordings (a label co-founded by Mike Patton of Faith No More)? You bet your ass it does! (more >>)

A Nevada City label called Grass Roots Records recently released a compilation with a new Hella track on it, and let us tell you, it's pretty sweet. Forsaking the mega-noisescape of previous Hella material, "Friday the 13th" has a clearer structure and a repeated surf/thrash guitar motif -- imagine that! It's still an instrumental, but one you can follow from start to finish. Mind you, Hella hasn't "sold out;" it's just got better. Hill's drumming is still off-the-charts awesome, and Seim's guitar playing has only improved and tightened. We can pretty safely say this is the best Hella song you've ever heard.

...Which is exactly why we're so darn psyched to hear the new record. With the recent conversion from a duo to a quintet and the infusion of new ideas and skills that entails, there's really no way of knowing what the new songs are going to sound like until they're tickling the ears. In Hella's Ipecac bio, Zach himself attests the new record is "easily the best thing we've done under the moniker, for sure." The new group should destroy in concert too, and Hella promises to spend most of 2007 on tour. These are some talented musicians with some great ideas -- and the guts and technical skills to see them through. Hella cool.

EARS AND EYES:
-Zach Hill is a visual artist too. Check out these neato acrylic on cardboard paintings on display at Fools Foundation, an art gallery in Sacto.
-In case you didn't know, Hella's new promo pic (above) is a take on an old Beatles album cover.
-Oakland noise-rock group the Weegs took a similar shot for the original cover of their 2004 debut Meat the Weegs. However, subsequent pressings -- and the only jpegs we could track down -- bore this cover. Perhaps they got into legal trouble...?

The Mall

MySpace (listen to "A Dead Science," "Favorite Past")
Official site
Hometown: San Francisco
Next local show: 11/18, Mezzanine
Recent release: Emergency at the Everyday, 2006

Mall-punk it ain't: The Mall play a hyper, condensed mix of noise, prog, and math-rock. Emergency at the Everyday, their debut full-length, is never particularly easy on the ears, but it can be a lot of fun. Ellery Samson’s vocals (and screams) are distorted and distant, as if filtered through ten feet of chicken wire and razor blades (actually he sang through an old rotary telephone hooked up to a PA.). Above him, uneasy rhythms crash and destruct as keyboards (Daniel Tierney) and drums (Adam Cimino) continually piece them back together. The tension between accessible melodies and the persistent element of noise makes the record what it is -- simultaneously grating and irresistible. (more >>)

At 1:51, "Advantage Out" is the third-longest song on Emergency at the Everyday. The longest is the drawn-out untitled closer, which clocks a full two-and-a-quarter minutes. That oughta tell you something: the Mall don't write "songs" so much as choppy segments of a whole. One-to-two-minute noise/math-rock blasts don't exactly get the chance to spread their wings. Instead, the Mall layer keyboards on top of drums on top of guitars on top of vocals on top of noise, then chop it all up. Whether you find the noise too harsh, the synthesized swells too sweet, or perhaps all in perfect balance, you won’t have long to dwell on it. The entire record clocks in under 20 minutes, but that’s 20 minutes with the staying power of 40 -– you’ll have to listen again to get a better hold on what the Mall is doing and to enjoy the thrill of discovery.

SHOPPING SPREE:
-The Mall's first EP, First, Before, and Never Again came out earlier this year on Mt. St. Mtn.
-The group will be performing its first local show in a month on 11/18 at Mezzanine in SF. Headlining is the Slits, an influential female UK punk group that opened for the Clash back in '77 and returned this year with its first new material in 25 years.
-The Mall is currently wrapping up its first-ever US tour, during which it visited far-off lands like Texas, Alabama, and Maryland, and played a CMJ showcase in NYC with the Slits and the Plot to Blow up the Eiffel Tower.