Up-Tight

It is a rare feeling when music can give you the sensation like a bullet through the head, and you call it a pleasure. But, well, that is what happened when we first listened to these four tracks from 'The Begininng of the End' the new studio album from Japanese garage-psych heroes Up-Tight. We played the disc once and we were speechless. Why? The reason was easy: We got a picture of a band at its creative zenith. The Lp opens with 'Our Own Portrait', guided by mantric drum beating, rigid bass pulsations and T.Aoki providing a vortex of massive fuzzed guitar. 'A Song For Your Pain' is a beautifully inspired ballad, with a melancholic voice floating on a carpet of melodic soft psychedelia. Side B is the Beginning Of The End, for real! 'The Destruction' is a trippy improvisation, with amps on fire and instruments in a state of pure sonic catharsis. Introducing the title-track as the final chapter, with Aoki's raucous crooning that evokes smoke and dark shadows, then collapsing into a wall of guitar squall. Our ears are still blowing! And it's time to play this record again. Get ready for a long trip cause there is no turning back with this incredible new album, Up-Tight takes the tradition of Japanese psych-rock and brings it to a brand new level of crazy intensity and destructive power.

Available on vinyl only. 210 hand-numbered copies. Red vinyl, silkscreened artwork, with insert