Sweet Rot Records just keeps the hits coming, and delivers another brain-frying debut from Vancouver's blackest and stickiest Sex Church, a neutering and throbbing blob of a mess that's got it's tentacles all up in my business. Featuring a few familiar faces from Vapid and the Defektors, along with Levon from Ladies Night and Nick G. from Master Apes (and Milwaukee's own Catholic Boys) hiding inside of an ugly shell of tar, grease and grisly intestines, and for a first single, they really nail down their own sound perfectly. On the A-side's "Dead End", an ominously undulating bass pattern rises and repeats, and the sense of real fear in the frantic drum beat alone is enough to make me check to be sure the doors are all locked. Almost Krautrockish at times, but still holding the gory edge of early 80s deathpunk in its grip, Sex Church keep it locked into an impenetrable groove that's as urgent as it is hypnotic. The B-Side's "Let Down" takes the pace down a bit, but delightfully drudges your mind through a slime-laden pit of Rocket From The Tombs-cum Alice Cooper residue that just can't be washed off without industrial-strength equipment. Some of the hooks even bring to mind The Hunches' drearier moments, but for this moment, Sex Church have the floor and you won't have an easy time picking yourself up off of it once you let these songs take root in your skull.
With a follow-up single coming soon on Convulsive Records, Sex Church are quickly rising like the filthy foam of penance, and waiting for their next chance to drain your worthless spine and drink that disgustingly powerful stuff inside while you lie there limp. Pick up their debut 7" from Sweet Rot (along with new singles from Jeffrey Novak and The Dictaphone), right HERE or from Goner HERE and blow your mind the right way tonight.
Check out a live clip of Sex Church performing in June at Music Waste in Vancouver. BC, courtesy of lianimator, right here:
