by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Alien Nosejob, the ever evolving (and devolving) solo project of Australia’s hyper-prolific Jake Robertson (Ausmuteants, Hierophants Drug Sweat, School Damage, etc) is created without limits, without restrictions. While it started with a similar garage-infected post-punk sound not too far his Hierophants project, the releases that have followed show just how alien the range can be with releases that maneuver between mutant disco (Buffet of Love) and last month’s deranged hardcore EP, HC45. With those two EPs bookending 2019, Alien Nosejob is set to release a new full length in 2020 and thankfully the wait for that is nearly over as Suddenly Everything Is Twice As Loud is due January 17th via Anti Fade / Drunken Sailor Records (an always stellar pairing). If each unique and increasingly realized release has been leading up this, we’ve arrived at essential Alien Nosejob.
Lead single and album opener “Television Sets” is a barn-burning synth punk track that rattles with hypnotic energy and a driving energy that’s heavy without being aggressive. It’s a ripper, bursting straight out the gates, with a dense guitar choogle and quickly snapped vocals that frame a the ghost-town mentality of society as everyone becomes increasingly engrained in the TV as “television sets are going cheap.” It’s a big surge of anxious energy and forward momentum, like a jolt of electricity that comes bursting from the wall as power grid overloads. “Television Sets” is just one of the many moods and exceptionally developed songs on Suddenly Everything Is Twice As Loud, quiet possibly 2020’s first must-hear records.