Stoke trio HERZOGA’s second single is a dissonant pop ‘result’. With acidic guitar noise and a bassline that sounds like an engine, 'Nice Car' descends amidst strangely pitched vocal wails into choppy and distorted repetition.
It’s raw and edgy, and a powerful launching pad for Matt Hicks’ spoken-word vocal narrative.
‘Blood School’ is faster and more like conventional rock n’roll, but the off-kilter guitars still echo out of the break and the hook-line is repetitive to the point of psychosis.
The final offering, ‘It Takes An Age’ is powerful, and sounds home-made. Here, the punk ethic is strong, and the song is full of odd splash/crash chords that reveal a Mark E. Smith approach to making rock music. Steve Clarke’s bass playing goes mental somewhere high up the fretboard before the final test-card shutdown.
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The rock grind is built on the rhythm section, with Mark Powell’s drumming setting the tempo for Clarke’s loud and funk-fuelled playing. Well worth a listen, the three tracks are also indicative of a blistering live sound.
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