by Ursula Wren (@xflowerviolence)
Nearly a year ago, in April of 2022, a collaboration across labels, borders, and the Atlantic Ocean brought together Psychic Graveyard and USA Nails for a fantastic experimental punk exhibition in the form of this 11-song record entitled simply Split.
Psychic Graveyard, a no-wave supergroup of sorts featuring members of Arab on Radar, among others, lays down a thick cacophony of otherworldly sounds on the A side of the split. Their sonic palette effortlessly melds the simple, danceable drum grooves of post-punk with foreign, broken, and alien electronic sounds. Despite live videos clearly showing the use of guitars in some of their music, you’d be hard-pressed to identify one throughout these five songs. This potent cocktail of danceable dissonance is garnished by Eric Paul’s (Arab on Radar, Doomsday Student) signature wry wailing.
The first song, “Building You A Rainbow,” is surprisingly one of the catchiest and most accessible tracks on the record. The topic at hand: someone’s new-age belief system is getting under Paul’s skin. “Okay, I’ll stop stealing your crystals,” Paul promises, his voice dripping with sarcastic venom, “… I’ll stop ripping up your tarot cards.” “Love My Skeleton Too” sees Psychic Graveyard’s most significant departure from traditional music. Even the drums are affected; each bass drum kick sputters with delay, the snare sounds like a shotgun blast, and Paul’s vocals are drenched in reverb and modulation. The “melodic” content, if it can be called that, consists of lurching, busted, atonal electronics loops. This is the peak of their experimentation on this record and shows how far they can take their sound from the no-wave post-punk of the opening track.
The B side of the split consists of six angular guitar-based noise rock tracks from the misleadingly-named London-based group, USA Nails. Their contribution to the record hews more closely to a traditional noise punk sound if such a thing exists. The opener for USA Nails’ part of the record, “It’s All In The Context,” features a much more technical drum pattern than any found on the A side of the split. The guitars are more recognizable as such, but they still manage to sizzle and clamber, making liberal use of distortion and delay. At the same time, guitarist/vocalist Gareth Thomas’ urgent punk-inspired speak-singing insists that, as the title suggests, “it is all in the context”.
With more traditional instrumentation and song structure, USA Nails’ portion of Split offers a counter-point to Psychic Graveyard’s in some crucial ways. Namely, they demonstrate that there is still plenty to be said, plenty to be explored, by a band consisting of guitar, bass, and drums — and there’s never a dull moment. Whether you’re already a fan of noise punk or are looking to explore it for the first time, this Psychic Graveyard and USA Nails split is an absolute must-listen.