Tom Morello & The Bloody Beetroots - The 
Catastrophists EP
Release Date: Out Now
Tom Morello seems to have the Midas touch with music which is impressive enough but when he uses that gift to create music with meaning, power and impact then you have doff your baseball cap to the man. Teaming up with The Blood Beetroots for this collection, 'The Catastrophists EP', Morello starts with a moody, Tom Waits meets Muse type introduction on 'The Devil's Infantry' which well and truly lays out the intentions of this EP. Next up is 'Radium Girls' featuring the collective talents of Pussy Riot, The Last Internationale, Aimee Interrupter and White Lung which would seem excessive were this not one of the most vital, effervescent and raw punk-rock tracks of recent years. Honestly, if you need to pumped up, ready to fight the good fight or just life yourself out of a funk then turn 'Radium Girls' up to 11 and get ready to be transformed.
'Lightning Over Mexico' has some Muse tones to it again but with the guest vocal of Chilean Hip-Hop artist Ana Tijoux this tune is transformed from brooding cloud swell to full on storm that implores you to go out in to the open and get drenched. On 'Keep Going', Morello explores the twang of swampy, Deep South blues-folk with a Waits meets Iggy Pop vocal bringing some grit to a story of escape and life on the run. Recent single 'Weather Strike' brings Pussy Riot back in on vocal duties for a track that makes the most of that loud-vs-quiet aesthetic in a way that only Morello knows how to do.
Penultimate track 'Field of Tigers' feels like it could have been used on a Prophets of Rage album but the urgency, anger and ferocity still fits perfectly on this collection. The EP closes out on 'Mary Celeste', a song that takes all the influences on the other tracks and stirs them up in to one big gumbo that is designed to disorientate and delight in equal measure. I fear this EP will slide by without the attention it is due but I would urge you to not let that happen because it really is a masterpiece and incredibly infectious.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/TomMorello