Messrs - S/T LP

Heel Turn (2016)

I'm not going to be able to give you a particularly insightful review of this Messrs album.  To put it bluntly, I just don't really like this sort of thing.  The one sheet that came with this review copy of Messrs S/T LP compares them to early AmRep and Touch & Go bands.  I guess that might be true, but to me, this sounds like a sludgy mess.

Are you looking for a loud, thick pile of guitar that has the treble turned all the way down to zero?  Looking for some plodding drum beats?  How about some shouted vocals that you can't understand?  If the answer is yes, Messrs may be for you.

I'm sure there are people that would really like this album.  Even I went through a period in the 90's where I was listening to crazy amounts of godheadSilo, Karp, Fitz of Depression and bands like that.  But I've always felt those Pacific Northwest bands had a lot more going on than just yelling and screaming.  I can't find anything deeper with Messrs.

Messrs - "NS":

https://soundcloud.com/user-542431893/messrs-ns

Turquoise Feeling - S/T LP

Heel Turn (2016)

If you know my taste in music, you know that in general I prefer when bands are a little rough around the edges, especially when it comes to recording.  I've always felt that when bands get a little too produced, it tends to gloss over some of the raw energy that they bring to the table.  Occasionally, things can go a bit too far in the other direction.  

What keeps coming to my mind when I listen to Turquoise Feeling is that I wish this album was recorded just a bit better.  I'm all for a little noise and some hiss, but in the case of this LP everything is so raw and overblown, you can't really hear anything that is going on.  The vocals are a bunch of ramblings that are completely buried in the mix and the instruments are just a jumbled pile of chaos.

It's a bit of a shame too, as most of the songs on the record are pretty good.  They're short, catchy bursts of garage fueled energy.  They are catchier than you'd think considering all of the noise you need to wade through.  If I could hear everything, I think I'd be singing a much different tune about this record.  I actually stumbled across a YouTube video of the Turquoise Feeling playing one of the songs from this record live.  It sounded so much better than the recorded version did.  It makes me wonder what could have been.

Turquoise Feeling - "Fever Few":

https://soundcloud.com/user-542431893/turquoise-feeling-feverfew

Turquoise Feeling - "Post Partum" (Live, not the LP version)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_DWHMy3kiU