TimeMazine

TimeMazine

Friday, December 7, 2012

THE BASEMENTS – Im Dead (2012)



THE BASEMENTS – Im Dead
2012 (LP Lost In Tyme Records) 
www.myspace.com/thebasementsthess






In last year's Issue I reviewed their debut Heart Of Stone EP, and I found it really cool and a well-worth try, getting impatient for their full album. So, here it is, a full length LP with 12 songs (6 on each side) by this Thessalonian quintet. The band moves in the same garage-punk-a-little-psych vein that they introduced with their EP. Side A opens with a wonderful combination of fuzzy-wah guitars and hot harmonica solos entitled “Wrong”. The vocals throughout this song and through the whole record are really ‘buried’. Is it consciously made this way by the band or did something go wrong during the recording/mixing procedure? “Wise Man” is a slow, almost torturous fuzzy tune while “Travel Every Night” is a short aggressive garagey Pebble. “I Don’t Want You No More” sets everything to fire, a fast one punky-fuzzy-yeah-yeah organ driven dynamite with even more buried vocals. The moody “Stray Mood” follows while side closes with “Im Dead” a literally endless melodic but full of fuzz garage anthem. Side B opens with “What’s Going On”, farfisa organ sound on the foreground and the fuzzy dirty guitar atmosphere on the background, with an excellent use of the harmonica. “Go Away” is a typical 60s fuzzy shake, while “I Wanna Come Back” lacks of fuzz, but has a beautiful organ oriented sound with nice backing vocals. “She Put Me Down” brings back the fuzz and the buried vocals too. The last two tracks are my favourites. Maybe because the guys leave themselves to experiment…  “Run Away Run” and “Hands On Time” are brilliant examples of modern 60s psych-garage! Well, after quite a few listens, I understood what Lenny Helsing is trying to say on the back cover when he is talking about an “ongoing party fuelled by the cacophonous fuzz-buzz jet-roar”. It’s their choice to sound dirty. After all, how many ‘clean’ basements do you know?… TimeLord Michalis

Try it here: Lost In Tyme Records 





                    













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