#in e

[12xurecs]

Water Damage - "Reel EE" video by Peter Shapiro from the album 'In E'

[dustedmagazine]

Water Damage — In E (12XU)

Anyone who plays guitar or bass is familiar with the key of E. It’s the lowest string in standard tuning, so if you’re planning on jamming, E is a pretty safe bet to get the blood racing and the air waves humming. On their new 80-minute, four-sided album In E, Texas instrumental noise-rock collective Water Damage explore various grinding permutations of the key of E, recorded live to tape. The result is a seething, sense-obliterating squall, to which the listener must willingly submit.

With the Velvet Underground’s seminal White Light / White Heat as an obvious precursor, opener “Reel E” features violin as the main texture of variance, sawing and screaming over the churn of electric guitar, bass and drums, all throbbing in the red. There are several minutes of respite at the start of “Reel EE” as the bass and drums slam out a minimalist groove before a wave of guitar feedback sweeps up the remainder of the track’s frequency range. There’s more breathing room again on “Reel EEE,” with some almost-pretty dulcimer glimmering in the mix at points. And finale “Ladybird” is a cover of a song by Shit & Shine, featuring indecipherable vocals that sound like they’re being emitted by a broken radio.

Though it’s difficult to discern the individual contributions of the 11 listed players — including Thor Harris (Swans) and Jonathan Horne (Jana Horn) —  that’s beside the point. What matters here is the collective maelstrom, the saturated tape, the surrender to the void. If you’re in the mood to lose yourself in the sound of a jam-room burning to the ground under the intense pile-driving weight of volume and distortion, look no further.

Tim Clarke

[prettythingssprettything]

I think I got the silly

[12xurecs]

Water Damage: In E

Read Grayson Haver Currin’s review of the album.

[z0urcherri]

[z0urcherri]

[rodgerstellawithcats]