Carquinez Straits “Humiliation Jacket” (Lather Records 2006)

Paisley Underground Desert Rock

‘Confused Island’ sounds like it is exploding from the Paisley Underground with twin guitars, the lead spiralling out of control, the psychedelic dissonance still in contact with the tune - it is at moments like these that records like this become worthwhile. They have been around for a while; this is their third album. I’ve not heard the others, and they are definitely at the point in the spectrum that is fried by the Californian sun, the guitars jangling before they snarl. When they add in pedal steel, the whole thing shimmers like a heat haze - you could hallucinate anything in this music-scape. You are on your own with only Peyote for company, a sweat lodge waiting for when you get back, if you get back without your brain being fried. And there is evidence that they did not avoid damage (‘Dog Food Binge’) - they recover for ‘Victory Snicker’ where swirls and eddies of guitar fly off to cast their own dust storms. Through the song you keep waiting for the guitar equivalent of a dust devil to form; it threatens, approaches Built To Spill territory but keeps everything contained within the song. There are some nice touches on ‘Ice Storm’ that sounds like early Meatpuppets with their unrestrained acid-desert-punk rock and when Carquinez leave their restraints behind as on ‘The Time We Left H-Bomb in Woodland’ you really get your moneys worth, the guitars scrambling in every direction like a disturbed ants nest until they implode.

Date review added:  Monday, May 08, 2006
Reviewer:  David Cowling
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  Label Band Site