by Dan Goldin (@paintingwithdan)
In strange time we need strange music. In ugly times we need ugly music. When times are both strange and ugly, we can be thankful for the restless nature of Buffalo most bugged out punk band, Ismatic Guru. The duo of Bran Schlia (Bonzo) and John Toohill (Science Man) have spent the past six years creating one warped and bubbling EP after the next, their well of deranged and animated new wave mutations never tapped. Bridging the gap between post-punk, hardcore, fried psych rock, and “egg prog” (that’s not a thing… but it could be) at its itchiest, the band play loose and weird, their unique sound forever progressing as the songs themselves groove and contort in memorable ways.
Hell On Earth, the band’s sixth EP (and second this year) is due out next week on August 27th via Toohill’s Swimming Faith Records (Calice, Vipers, Havana Syndrome), another adventurous ride through their acidic punk cavalcade of misfits and real-life monsters. While attention to character detail has always been present in their songs, Hell on Earth seems to take a thematic embrace, each song it’s own twisted and demented cinematic experience (if the screen was condensed and roughly glued into your eyeballs). “It’s Nothing,” the record’s first single feels like your mind detaching from your skull, just as long as you won’t have to eventually pay a hospital or doctor to resolve it. The riffs sputter and splatter, stabbing and careening over a rhythm that sounds pulled from a neon tinged aerobic sci-fi nightmare. Yep, it’s that good.