The Schizophonics - Ooga Booga (12" EP)

The Schizophonics are a stunning garage-punk-rock-n-soul revelation, one of the wildest live acts anyone has ever seen, and one of the best songwriting combos to come out of recent years. With equal parts 60's garage, Detroit High Energy and blue-eyes Soul, this trio (singer/ guitarist/ human pinball Pat, powerhouse drummer/singer Lety and a revolving line up of bassists) pummel their audiences wherever they go with blasts of fuzz-filled rock'n'soul fever! I believe this is their debut and it has a bit more of a 60's garage/psych feel than their follow-ups (which still have that tendency but with more untamed wildness in the mix), but that is far from a bad thing. I love the blend of all of their influences that they flawlessly use to create the Schizo sound!

The opening "Oogo Booga Boogaloo" is a fuzz-infused, power chord stomper permeated with Pat's Hendrix-influenced maniacal guitar work. "Electric" has some MC5-styled fuzz riffs with heavy soul grooves and even heavier guitar, "Rat Trap" is more traditionally psych/garage with some clean guitar layered with distorted licks, San Francisco-like melodies (with added shrieks) and a pounding beat. "Two Thousand Seventeen" has some true 12 string jangles'n'melodies'n'harmonies that would not have been outta place on any 60's (or 80's throwback) classic (although Pat's psych/fuzz/near-backwards leads and Lety's incessant beat keeps it from being too folky) and they turn up the wildness for a frantic fuzz-riff finale, "Venus Transit".

Truly one of the best current bands around - amazing high energy, an insane stage show, fantastic musicianship and terrific songwriting. Don't miss out on this!