Russian Baths | Parasite (Single)

Family Average: 3/7

Hey now here is a delicious Slowdive Nirvana mashup that I can get behind. I am digging the melding of the two fuzziest genres. I am grabbing on to the rails while it spins around and trying not to fly off or vomit on my date. Okay well maybe the Nirvana thing was really low hanging fruit because the song follows a similar structure to “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. Still I dig what is going on. The ghostly vocals have a lovely contrast to the crushing crunchy guitar and explosive cymbals.

The song picks up quick and offers little variety once it is in full bloom. That is fine though. It is a solid head swinging drink spilling tune.

3/7

Brooklyn noise rock has colored the sound to too many of my nights. It’s a familiar sound that often fails to get me particularly excited. Russian Baths fell in line, presenting a song that sounds a lot like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” but ten times louder with less annunciation and much more fuzz. 

The male-female vocal harmonies were well balanced albeit repetitive. I’d have liked each vocal to shine a bit more, but instead they were obscured by cyclical and aggressive guitar. That being said, the fuzzy discord makes a nice juxtaposition to the light, bouncier vocals. It’s an interesting piece of work, but all too familiar. Truthfully, I struggled to make heads or tails of what it was all about. All in all, it suited the bill for another night out in Brooklyn where dissonance and fuzz are privileged above all, creating a scene of pure noise, emotion, and sweat. Usually a good time, just nothing to write home about.

3/7