Outhud - The First Single of the New Millennium
(5 Rue Christine)
Sacramento's Outhud (now relocated to New York City) are Kranky's newest signing.
This is their third single, and since it's devoid of any credits I can only surmise that they
are still a guitar/bass/cello/drums instrumental 5-piece, whose members moonlight in !!!.
Hopefully they'll be putting out a full-length on Kranky, so I can listen to them for longer
than a few minutes at a time.
Side one, "Le Elephant Stomp," is driven by a heavily processed drumbeat. Opening
with screeching distortion, it builds into a repetitive dub piece. Each snare hit sounds like
a cannon going off. The guitar line is a dancing staccato melody that sounds lifted from a
!!! song. Every instrument is soaked in effects, enhancing the "dub" aspect of this band.
The B-side, "4th of July BBQ," is a calmer song with similar production to the A-side.
The cello drives the melody here, and muted guitar strums accentuate the reverse delay
on the drums. My only complaint is that the record is too short, though it may be their
best single yet.
I really want to see this band live--they're one of the freshest faces in instrumental rock
today. It's not easy to sound like a dub version of the marriage between Public Image
Limited and ESG, but Outhud pulls it off, creating something truly unique.
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