Powersolo - Bloodskinbones

I picked up the three CDs that were available at Powersolo's show last week but I have been slow to review any of them as they are so strange and varied that they are difficult to describe. The live show was certainly odd, but a little more cohesive given the restrictions of the instrumental set up. On the records, Kim Kix and Atomic Child (who is no longer with Kim) add quite a number of different instruments and styles for a wild listening experience.

The opening "Murder in SFAX" has a mutated "Batman" riff, sound effects, shrieks'n'screams and a basic "ahhhhhh" vocal line. Trashy guitar, off time rhythms and more weird vocals start off "Busses" that also includes a cool, noisy guitar break and a kinda hip-hop-ish bridge. "Psych Demons" is almost a garage number, but with more odd, psych/new-wave effects, "Gimme the Drugz" is even odder, with more syncopated rhythms and cacophonous instruments, but a catchy melody, then "Pirates of the Oblivion"  has a child-like vocal with a drivin', hand-clappin' beat with new-wave-ish keyboard touches and "4-3-2-1" is a demented take on high-energy garage punk with powerhouse drums and LSD-inspired breaks.

More garage with a bit of exotica in "Coco", that includes catchy melodies, fuzz guitars and lots of tremelo, nice guitar crunch in "Elvin D Jerk (Part 2)" (yes, part two comes first) augmented by quirky vocals, then "...(Part 1)", which is a kind of a maniacal country/punk, shout-along number, followed by coo-coo vocalizing in the stompin' "Canned Love", "Yeah! Yeah!" kinda reminds me of a garagey take on "Jesus Built My Hot Rod" and the record concludes with a garage-rap-bubblegum number, "Nineteen Ninety-Six".

As usual, my words cannot truly convey the weirdness that is embedded in these digital grooves, so you'll have to check this out for yourself, but for the adventurous, this is a fun time!