Acid Baby Jesus

The only thing that can make William Burroughs creepier is to white out his eyes, and Acid Baby Jesus right away gets points for this punk rock cut up sleeve, de-eyeing Mr. Naked Lunch. Acid Baby Jesus might even be from something penned, or cut out by Bill...I wouldn't be surprised.

As for the first track, from "Hospitals" this is a dirty feedbacking garage effort with a bit of that Cramps creepy attitude. I think basically we're dealing with the best kind of punk garage energy from a 4 piece. Recorded in a thousand year old garage in Greece, proving that yet again, give me a blind garage test and I'd never guess it originated here. Greece is having some pretty massive political and financial problems and not to say this release has anything to do with that, but I could see a lot of bands springing up out of the ashes of the social unrest there.

This track has a huge surf reverb melody against the driving every other snare hit beat. Big delay distortion and snotty vocals that comes off like anything in the heart of Nashville for gods sake.

"It's on Me" seems to have a dirge horn sound that I'm starting to think is a distorted guitar? This gritty distortion has so much texture as it slowly vibrates through the wave form, it starts to turn into a low horn sound. There's some great Jacuzzi Boys style guitar lines, and they aren't pushing the tempo's like the boys either...it's a long distance run to the finish. Like a slowed down Bass Drum of Death with a phantom horn, created by a demon guitar. I really can't explain it, could be completely wrong. It's that sort of weirdness combined with the straight ahead garage punk that's going creepy places. Some messed up synth or piano banging rhtyhm brings this side to a close.

The B-Side, "Losing it" gets even slower, almost a ballad, or country western feel, with the surf garage underpinnings. There's a great endless reverb on the vocal where someone hits a decay button for a second and that part of the vocal goes on forever, twisting the knobs faster, slower. He's "losing it" vocally as well.

Get it from Slovenly Records, who have a ton more stuff I have to investigate.
- 7 INCHES

Hailing all the way from Greece is ACID BABY JESUS, whose 7? was the first release from Slovenly Recordings to kick off 2011. It’s not entirely clear what else these guys have out there for our consumption, but for now this was a hell of an introduction.

This is buzzy psych rock with metallic guitars at a decent pace, almost with some shitgaze qualities that will leave you with a splitting headache. The guitars are heavily concentrated and always on the edge of destruction with plenty of crunch and grit, probably best illustrated in the opener “Hospitals”.

The gritty chord bursts press on without second thought before exploding into a heated psychedelic freakout, which should leave you right on your ass due to clanking percussion. The staggering chords of “It’s On Me” suffer an immense beat down, while creeping along at a grueling pace before moving on.

The closer “Losing It” has an unexpected bluesy twang that wraps up the single, and the lyrics go a long way to complement the edgy attitude that comes through in these songs. Perilous synths gives it more depth and adds a vibrant haze, hereby forcing you to decide just which one of these dynamic tracks you like the best.
- The Styrofoam Drone

Acid Baby Jesus' "Hospitals" is a surf-inspired garage opus that's as heavy on distortion and delay as it is on vibed-out, chant-along vocals.

In other words, exactly what you'd expect from a band hailing from the marble mothership of Western civilization: Athens "yogurt, not peaches" Greece. No? After comfortably treading in some insidiously catchy, guitar-driven waters, the track launches into a cacophony that will either suck you down to the ocean floor or leave you gazing at the shoes you've been tapping to the beat for the past two minutes.

Lifejacket not included. Shout out to Rich Moms for the tip. - Altered Zones