by Myles Dunhill (@MylesDunhill)
It’s only been four short months since we last heard from Tym Wojcik, the mastermind behind Cup, and he’s back with a vigorous vengeance. Jitter Visions, the eighth full-length and continued expansion of Tym’s splintering vision might be the strongest batch of tracks yet. On this go around the integration of sci-fi synth lines and textures skew the overall sound of the record into more outward terrain while the subject matter straddles the bizarre and the terrestrial in ways that would make Frank Black jealous. The most immediate gut-punching reaction though is just how much these tracks rip and slice through their short running times leaving a lasting impression like the familiar stains on an old basement rug.
The lead-off single, “Magic Planet,” easily recalls the cream of the crop from similar outfits, the most obvious being Help-era Oh Sees or Ty Segall Band at its most raucous, but this isn’t imitation as much as it is a devotion to a sound that has proven itself to be ageless. With a delivery of deadpan vocals spewing lines dealing with personal demons and anxiety, there is a strong sense of catharsis hearing Tym expressing his feelings in such a juxtaposed disconnect. Other stand outs like, “Cosmic Brain” might as well be Parquet Courts from Mars, while the title track is a descent into mental muckiness that sounds equally as fun as it does perverted.
The strongest component that separates Cup from most of their garage rock peers is the sheer revelry of weirdness and decadence lying behind the surface of these songs. While they are simple pop tunes on paper they are distorted and contorted into demented theme songs that could easily appear on the soundtrack to a plethora of 1960’s sci-fi b-movie schlock flicks. With the gain way in the red and the decibel levels raised to all hell, it’s very apparent that Cup is primed to melt plenty of faces this year, the only logical thing to do is set your phasers on stun and prepare to blast off!