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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Song Nü Sounds

Posted by Jason Baxter on Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 8:30 AM

I just made the mistake of listening to "Gumbo" from Nü Sensae's Tea Swamp Park EP with my cans on and the laptop volume cranked. But despite having now hurtled even closer towards early-onset tinnitus, I'm still totally on board with this B.C.-based drum-and-bass duo. While I once lauded the band for their "suggestion of unspoken significance and imploded, J.G. Ballard-esque realms of 'inner space,'" there seems to be something less explicitly post-apocalyptic about their newer stuff—it feels more immediate and arresting and super-saturated with raw, punky "now"-ness. At the same time, bassist Andrea Lukic's vocals have never sounded more haunting, whether she's cooing ike a choir of ghosts atop Daniel Pitout's monstrous drumming, or shrieking like a harpy during the caffeinated, grunge-y choruses.

Good on local label Suicide Squeeze for signing this band—who for years have been tireless DIY self-promoters—and for booking them some studio time this winter to lay down a new full-length. If you're unfamiliar with Nü Sensae, this video for "I'm a Body," off 2010's blistering TV, Death, and the Devil, is a good place to start. Also, it bears repeating: R.I.P. the band's Seattle counterparts, The Last Slice of Butter. I'll think of them every time I visit the otolaryngologist. Peanut Butter and Jam: