Friday night in the lovely town of Columbus, OH, don't sit home alone in the dark and come check out hometown heros The Cheater Slicks as they reinstate their place in Midwest music history. The spot is Cafe Bourbon Street, and the 'Slicks have a new album out which is already making waves all over the place, so there's a good chance you can pick up a copy straight from the band in person, if you're so inclined. While there's no end to the glee their lugubrious recordings tend to cause their most rabid fans, it's the opening acts tonight that need some of your well-deserved attention. Columbus' Guinea Worms are no slouch in the nervously addictive, repetitive lo-fi art department, and upon first listen to a few of their tracks posted HERE, you can see why they could fit on a bill with like-minded souls as the Country Teasers or The Intelligence so well. With a simplistic and derivative sound, albeit exactly what feels right in this context, look for the Guinea Worms to keep their minimal punk scrapings up to par and to continue to raise eyebrows and turn heads everywhere they go. With an upcoming single due out on Columbus Discount Records later this year, it's worth keeping your eyes peeled for, but in the meantime catch their live show for a taste of the familiar, yet verminous slop they're serving.
Columbus' fertile soundscape of the modern day has many different appendages sticking out in all directions, but as in everything else worth hunting down, it's usually the more overlooked that deserve checking out. The Grave Blankets have been steadily building their noisy machine over the last two years with a few short tours and only a small handful of records, but something unsettling and exciting is truly lurking underneath. Not exactly coming from the Anyway Records train of thought so prevalent in Cow Town, but instead opting for the darker, more sinister sounds only hinted at by the Bassholes and the Cramps, and coming away with a refreshingly ugly groove that grows on you like moss in the shade. Their debut 7" was released in April on their own imprint, Record Time!, and is essential Midwest dirgey scuzz that you need more than you'd care to believe, and you can check out the track "Somethng You Say" and pick up the single right HERE. After your pallete is sated with their vile and irresistably hypnotic charm on the debut record, check out Grave Blankets' side of a split 7" with Oakland husband & wife combo the Touch Me Nots, which was just released in May and can be acquired right HERE. All in all, it's just more unheralded greatness from Ohio, and more to pick up on before it's too late!
check out a video for the Guinea Worms' "Kick In The Door" courtesy of willfosterhaze here...
