gnitch:gnitch

Anto Mack and Ross Mack play El-Cheapo guitar and Top-Shelf drums respectively. Redneck Jig starts off the album like 2 brain-damaged members of The Cramps playing at a party. It’s the sort of party that ends up with someone jumping through a window and a gaggle of girls helpfully pick shards of broken glass out of his back while other people climb 3 fences to go skinny-dipping in a swimming pool down the road before fleeing when the dogs are unleashed. You’re not sure if you enjoy the party but you know you’ll never forget it. gnitch continues with some Duane Eddy from beyond the grave. It then all slows down, although half way through Gutwringer the guitar rocks again but just briefly. The soundscapes continue with twangs and reverb until the CD player just can’t take any more.

Can I describe the music? – psycho-Hawaiian-surf, maybe. You may feel dread when the Deliverance banjo starts but when gnitch:gnitch start you should run like hell. I made a tape of this for the car so I could listen while travelling. It didn’t last long; the tape ground to a halt and had to be chucked in the bin. Even electrical devices expressed a critical opinion. Anto is quite possibly a nutter and despite living 22 hours flight away I don’t want to annoy him. I have no idea what the motivation is behind the recording – maybe just messing around in a bedroom, maybe avant-garde art, maybe a bit of an existential joke. But after many listens there’s a curious logic and artistry behind it all.

What do I think of this CD? It’s a gem although I don’t recommend it to anyone but the most determined obscurantist. As long as the world includes people like this then there will always be an antidote to boy bands. If you want to shock your parents forget Marilyn Manson – just get hold of this CD and watch their jaws drop as you play it – but be careful you may hate it and not understand it just as much as they do.