New 7 song EP/CD and digital release on Semprini Buy it through:
//eMusic//Semprini Online StoreRed Mass Few local bands of late have had as much ink spilled on 'em as have Red Mass, the collective/neo-cult led by the shaking shaman on vox and guitar, Choyce (a.k.a. Roy Vucino). This self-titled EP keeps it short, sharp and shocked, as rock music should be. The fat is trimmed and the waste laid to rest, as the dozen or so musicians blaze their way through lo-fi psychedelic punk, pop and garage blues, while Choyce snarls and sneers at the non-believers. Time to believe. -
(Steve Guimond) - hourRed Mass
self-titled EP (Semprini)
After a somewhat shaky start, this local hydra-headed monster, led by CPC Gangbanger Choyce, finally matches its heaped-on hype. Although Red Mass are comfortable in almost any style, they stick close to a driving, snotty psych-punk sound here. Live, they’ve often gotten sucked into the undertow of their self-inflicted chaos, but things are nailed down here with choruses that could give Jay Reatard a run for his money, while the closer “I’m on Fire” just explodes.
(Johnson Cummins) - mirror
Bande A Part
Red Mass Red Mass (Semprini, 2009)
10 novembre 2009
C'est quoi?
Fusion erratique de punk, de blues, de rock and roll spatial, d'électronique et de noise, c'est le premier maxi homonyme du collectif Red Mass chez Semprini Records, probablement la plus achevée et la mieux réalisée de leurs quelques 20 parutions depuis 2008.
C'est rendu propre?
Non. Sans ramollir ni freiner, Red Mass se raffine et met en évidence les facettes soul et psychédélique de sa musique, en continuant de particulariser la beauté de son désordre organisé. Représentant l'idéologie chaotique du collectif, les thèmes comme les sonorités s'agencent et s'opposent à la fois. Des voix parfois nasillardes, d'autres fois « croonées », mais généralement chaudes nous entretiennent de fête et d'amour, mais aussi de mort et de paranoïa, sur des rythmes entraînants sous lesquels se trouvent des envolées de claviers cinématiques et des cris troubles, dans un alliage de mélodies et de bruits qui évolue vers un résultat conséquent, peut-être sensé, voire envoûtant. Et c'est là qu'on remarque le tour de force.
Ça évite d'être n'importe quoi?
Drette ça. Bien qu'instable, cette masse sonore est adroitement dirigée par son vecteur principal, Choyce. Depuis ses débuts, la formation se veut immersive, antiélitiste; et cette fois-ci, on s'y sent vraiment invité.
Une écoute bienvenue de Benoit Poirier
This is some of the best music being produced in the world today! Choyce and
the Roller (bass /electronics) lead Red Mass with (roughly) 20 talented
musicians and artists, including past collaborators Jena Roker and Dan Pedro
Dorito. Choyce writes the best hardboiled crime poetry for, and about, desperate
drug addicted lovers — their lives wildly out of control! Roy is breaking sound
barriers with his masterful guitar playing, experimenting in a mad scientist’s
lab full of pedals and equipment. All the songs are top notch and have many
memorable passages that I will chant aloud to when I finally get to see them
play live, like this sample of the drum machine driven street punk song “Success
For Crime”: “I’m so broke / I rob your store / I break your door. I’m feeling
lucky / gonna get my money / then I’ll fly high!”
Even when I’m old and losing my marbles I’ll still be shouting out words from
“Party Til I Die” a nihilistic punk party anthem – not a jingle for a jock
sausage fest! (Think Black Flag, not Andrew W.K.!) On “I’m on Fire” I get a
vicarious rush from from the coke drip vocal fx and Prince in a woodchipper
guitar insanity that ends this 7 song release! Red Mass urgently take rock and
roll back to the heart and to the outer limits and “has opened itself to all
with a sincere belief that it can offer young artists and outsiders alike a new
haven.” Be warned! Salvation has a price: Red Mass songs will never leave your
brain! I could go on but I’ll spare you – just take a listen to their myspace
and order this CD through
www.semprinirecords.com. A vinyl
version is coming! (Bob Scott-mongrel zine)
Enjoyable punk from the ashes of Montreal's CPC Gangbangs. The band references
Black Flag and Dead Kennedys, but this would sound more at home with the more
intellectual DC Dischord (Fugazi, Jawbox) or Swami (Hot Snakes, Rocket From the
Crypt, and surprise CPC Gangbangs) labels. The closest song they have to
hardcore punk is "Lord of the Rats," which tries so hard to replicate the spirit
of Jello Biafra that it almost sounds like parody (though to be fair, alot of
Biafra's current stuff is like that already), though it's still a pretty good
straightforward punk song. Otherwise, it's great restrained punk rock,
especially "Saturn" (which is way to addicting to play on repeat), and "Party
'Til I Die," which is probably what would happen if you forced talented indie
kids to do a standard punk song, and the results are fun times to the
maximum.