Atomic Bitchwax
The Local Fuzz
The Atomic Bitchwax has been a rock n roll rocket ship for nearly two decades. The band’s “play what you want” attitude has given us some of the best that underground droning jam rock has to offer. Their first two albums are classics of modern rock, and the song “Hey Alright” could be one of my favorite rock tunes ever. I haven’t always seen eye to eye with all of Atomic Bitchwaxs’ recordings, but I’ve always respected not just the musicianship but also the badass song writing. With their latest release, The Local Fuzz, Atomic Bitchwax has entered a pantheon alongside Rush, The Melvins, Sleep and a few select others.
What pantheon is this? The one of the long song, in this case a forty-two minute opus that makes up the entirety of The Local Fuzz. Over the course of these forty-two minutes there are fifty riffs, a dozen time changes and various states of 60s and 70s fuzzed out prog-rock. The interesting thing with The Local Fuzz is how it’s a free and always thing but never sounds overly sloppy. It doesn’t come off as just some long jam. The key to writing an epic is making sure it never gets boring and that each part builds on the last. I’m not sure if Atomic Bitchwax built this monstrosity on sheer instinct or they sat down and wrote it, but it everything on The Local Fuzz meshes perfectly.
The best way to describe this album is to call it a musical maze. The music flows one direction, then shifts suddenly, moves again and, at times, doubles back on itself. Imagine the maze in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining but instead of an axe wielding Jack Torrance you get Bon Scott carrying a bag of weed and a sixer. I also enjoyed the interplay between the musicians. Finn Ryan’s guitar bobs and weaves around the rest of the music, shuffling from clever riffage to power chords and back again. Chris Kosnik’s bass spends time, to quote Mike Watt, between being a ball-hog and a tugboat. When its a ball-hog Kosnik’s bass is upfront, moving the rhythms in interesting ways. As a tugboat nobody anchors the groove of the album better. Bob Pantella powers the entire engine with his drumming. At times tasty and refined, at others just brutal pounding, everything you’d want Pantella to play on The Local Fuzz he does.
Some will no doubt call The Local Fuzz boring. It’s almost a guarantee with a lengthy instrumental album. People love vocals, they love song breaks, they want to be able to stick songs in their Ipod that aren’t the equivalent of six trips to and from work. Those people will miss out on an experience that doesn’t come along that often. Bands rarely show the bravery to step outside the box and do exactly what it is they want to do. The Local Fuzz is forty-two minutes of pure rock bliss and proof that doing what you want to do creates the best artistic statements.
CRAVEONLINE RATING 8 1/2 OUT OF 10
