Protruders: Poison Future 12″

Description

“After four self-released cassettes, Montral’s premier art-punk/neo-proto-punk band Protruders makes its vinyl debut with a 25-minute 12-inch of very groovy sounds. The sound is a bit clearer and maybe a little beefiersome of the noise gives way to a more relaxed and expansive approach. The psych quotient is higher. But the heart of the band is still beating for the sort of raw open-minded non-generic punk that once came from the likes of Rocket From The Tombs, Swell Maps, Dead Moon, Dancing Cigarettes, etc. Fruit Hang has a perfect mid-70s style garage feellike a Boston pre-punk band tearin it up at the Rat! This could be the hit, kidz! Skronky sax gives Hydrophytol a kinda Hawkwind/no-wave feel. And dig No Stonea slower one, catchy as hellI swear it could pass for an outtake from the Saints circa 1978. Solidanother hit! At five minutes, the title track stretches things out a bit. This one has a definite Ubu/Voidoids vibenasty angular spazz-punk with a little more sax blat added. Very nice guitar stuff happening here. We get some weirdo HC action on Stabilizer and more hot guitar squiggles. Tax 101 is maybe a typical Protruders songthat means good! Wrong Way Sign, pushes things over the six-minute mark, with a strong psych-punk feel (Wipers?) and some totally swell rock-jam stuff at the end. Wow. This record is a significant step for the band and an impressive way to start their vinyl career as they gain the higher visibility they deserve. Most excellent!” -Eddie Flowers (Vulcher Magazine/The Gizmos)

Our take: Debut vinyl from this Montreal band on the always-reliable Feel It Records. The Protruders music, to me at least, sounds like the members have spent a lot of time withthe music of the 1970s, whether youre talking about the primitive art-punk of Electric Eels and Pere Ubu, the psychedelic explorations of Amon Dl II or Hawkwind, or the driving proto-punk of Rocket from the Tomb or the Saints. (Note Ive stolen most of these references from the labels description, which is spot-on). I love thatthey can write a song like Fruit Hang, which could have been the a-side to a great 70s punk single on a label like Raw or Chiswick, but theyre so much more than just a pop band. The dense, intertwining chords of the title track are about as Pere Ubu-esque as Ive heard a band from the 2010s get, and the lazy groove and dense chords on No Stone are great too. I dont love the heavy distortion on the vocals (even if it makes them sound even more like the Electric Eels than they would have otherwise), but thats a minor quibble. If you’re modern punker with a soft spot for the more out-there sounds of the 70s check this out.