Lithium Zion

Description

Theres an inherent flaw in the perennially alternating rock is backand rock is dead arguments: they are based on the idea that rockmusic is a logic-based choice a person consciously chooses to make.Contrary to the critics who are looking to suss out cultural trends andmovements, the decision to play loud, distorted, unabashedguitar-rock isnt a strategic move but a higher calling (or curse,depending on ones point of view). Some might say the pursuit ofrocking out via deafening amplifiers, crusty drums and abeer-battered PA is a spiritual one, an affliction that either strikes ordoesnt. Few groups today embody this sentiment like Melbournesaptly-named Deaf Wish.

Theyre more likely to ask a fellow musician what they do for theirreal job (for one, guitarist Jensen Tjhung works as a builder) thantalk shop about publicists, ticket counts and online promotions.Theyre a grisly rock group and theyve already signed to Sub Pop,which is to say theyve already succeeded beyond their wildestdreams, so anything that comes after (performing in strange newcities, meeting like-minded souls, maybe even selling a t-shirt or two)is a bonus. And if they come to your town, you would be wise to clearyour calendar.

Lithium Zion is their fifth full-length album (and second for Sub Popfollowing 2015s Pain), and, while its a rare case that a groups fifthalbum is their best, it may in fact be Deaf Wishs finest. Their previousalbums were recorded in makeshift studios – a wise choice forcapturing the hazardous riffing, chemically-stained vocals and fieryrhythms conjured by a group such as this – but this step toward aslightly more professional sound only enhances their power. Therecord opens with Easy, a languid rocker in the rich Australiantradition of groups like X and The Scientists. From there its ontoFFS, a moody downhill rocker sung by guitarist Sarah Hardimanthat confirms Deaf Wishs relation to fellow Sub Pop employees likefeedtime and Hot Snakes. The Rat Is Back is tense and epic;Hitachi Jackhammer pays a brief and noisy tribute to Hitachissecond most notable device (youd be forgiven for assuming this songis about vibrators).Lithium Zionis a veritable buffet of garage-punkenergy, post-punk pathos, sardonic wit and the fearlessness thatcomes with Aussie rock, a natural consequence for anyone living on acontinent teeming with grapefruit-sized spiders and man-eatingmosquito swarms.

As has always been the case, the whole group shares vocal duties,even drummer Daniel Twomey (you know the band is slightlyunhinged if theyre letting the drummer sing). Hardiman and Tjhungare as ragged and hairy as ever, chugging along as though krautrockwas trying to speed past the late 70s but got caught in the stickygrasp of punk. Such is the way of Deaf Wish, a group destined to writesongs that are simultaneously stupid and sublime, vulnerable andferocious, and play them with the unbridled intensity they demand.Anyone serving a life sentence to rock will surely concur.