The Movements / The Angry Dead
Pirates – Split 10” Vinyl (PARIAH! Records)
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| The Movements / The Angry Dead Pirates - Split 10" |
French label Pariah Records
specialise in Garage/Psyche music and, apparently, in putting out split vinyl
releases between French and Swedish bands. This latest release is a prime
example as it’s a 10” vinyl single with three tracks from Swedish Psyche
rockers The Movements and and three from French Garage grungers The Angry Dead
Pirates. Starting with those crazy Swedes, The Movements blast in with the
organ laden stomp of ‘Deserted Town’ which sounds like Ray Manzarek guesting on
a Flaming Lips record and draws you in straight away. Ideally suited to sound
tracking a motorbike scene in some Scandinavian version of Mad Max, this is a
swirling, Tazmanian Devil of a tune and resistance is futile. ‘She Said’ kicks
in like a Spaghetti Western tune complete with ominous whistling and you can
almost smell the sarsaparilla and chewing tobacco. The thundering drums sound
like the hooves of the underrated horses that belong to the 4 horsemen of the
apocalypse and the blend of almost unidentifiable instruments just serves to
build the tension and drama of the tune. The last track from the Movements is a
cover of their label mates, the Angry Dead Pirates, as the Swedes blast through
their version of ‘Put Me Down’. This is Futureheads-esque stuff with jangly,
urgent guitars smothered in jittery, impatient vocals and hypnotic organs.
The Angry Dead Pirates are up
next and offer a slightly more chilled and spaced out version of the Garage
genre. There are still plenty of heave Hammond chords on ‘I Don’t Mind’ but the
drums are a lighter touch and the guitar is more controlled than what is
offered up by the Movements. ‘Moon’ starts off with Dr Who style retro noises
from ‘the future’ before settling in to slightly repetitive but still enjoyable
psyche-out rock. Finally, the Angry Dead Pirates return the favour and perform
their version of the Movements’ ‘Being’ starting off with a public information
instructional sound bite about LSD. This is followed by some sinister, chugging
guitar and some lazy, dope up vocals before descending in to an organ driven
frenzy that would be perfect in a Russ Meyer film or in a darker sequel to the
Austin Powers films – y’know, the one directed by Christopher Nolan where Austin
completely loses his mojo and disappears in to a well of despair.
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| The Movements |
This release was presented as
Sweden vs France and, following that theme, I would suggest that Sweden’s the
Movements has narrowly won this contest but only on points. I think the real
winner is music, though, and I would suggest that in Pariah! Records we have a
record label worth paying attention to in the future.