Music
Press
Astral Gunk’s music draws inspiration from 70s garage bands like The Sonics and Television, and blend that raw, unpolished sound with the live energy and intensity of groups like The Make-Up, Minutemen and Dead Kennedys.
- the scope
Three piece from New Brunswick playing some punchy garage punk.
It's lo-fi (not too much) but still has some bright clean guitar parts shining through and a decent amount of weird psych influence, which reminds me of the YOUNG. The vocals have an urgency akin to X (the australian one). I got a little lost during the jam session at the end, but that's because it's just not my perferred style. Throw in a dash of Minutemen andwe have a pretty cool, dynamic demo. - Maximum Rock n Roll
Astral Gunk s/t cassette
These guys are from Sackville, NB, which is actually a real town. I had to check, because that totally sounds made up. Promo says they play garage-psych, but it's more aggro than that description implies. Certainly not mellowed out fuzzy West Coast/Oh Sees type stuff, it's fast-paced jammy sounding garage with busy and almost prog/jazz style timing and some wacked vocals. The tunes are driven by rubbery basslines and work the loud/soft dynamic, throwing on some weird synth effects and noise breakdowns. Sounds more Zappa than anything heavily psychedelic to me. Five tracks that sprawl over two sides, they're good players, a little zany/arty in the songwriting department, reminds me a bit of Wicked Awesomes. I wish I could think of a good Sackville joke...(RK) - Terminal Boredom
zzing out in all directions with a no-wavey garagey flavor driving things. The tape starts of with “Astral Theme”, dropping some Monks like chords, straight up Nuggets style, that swerves into a feedbacking, harmonic laden groove that carries equal parts Sonics as it does UJ3RK-5, infectious and ass kicking right out the box. This jam would just own if busted out in a packed DIY space, sparse Stooges vocals stab here and there and it ends in a twister of delay feedback.
“I’m a Wreck” pounds into being right away, unkempt vocals bounces off an undeniable guitar line and culminates in “I’M FUCKIN’ ELVIS, BITCH!”, a snapper of a break and the party crashes right back in. “Jaded Pilgrim” offers more high kicks and swag with a Velvets affectation and a darker sound, but still highly charged.. that’s one thing I love about this tape, it’s balls deep rock, full on, not a mid tempo track in the bunch, just straight up red line energy. The beautiful feedbacking buzzsaw psych noise breakdown on “Hedonism” is as close as one gets to drawing a breath throughout this recording, but it merely serves as torque to snap back into the onslaught. “Last Part” ends the show with some mathspazzingly fun guitar shred all the while held up by the very capable band. These dudes can play the shit out of their shit, but it’s all doused in a lo-fi basement psych sound that gives it it’s edge, totally. One of my albums of the summer for sure. - Big Takeover
zzing out in all directions with a no-wavey garagey flavor driving things. The tape starts of with “Astral Theme”, dropping some Monks like chords, straight up Nuggets style, that swerves into a feedbacking, harmonic laden groove that carries equal parts Sonics as it does UJ3RK-5, infectious and ass kicking right out the box. This jam would just own if busted out in a packed DIY space, sparse Stooges vocals stab here and there and it ends in a twister of delay feedback.
“I’m a Wreck” pounds into being right away, unkempt vocals bounces off an undeniable guitar line and culminates in “I’M FUCKIN’ ELVIS, BITCH!”, a snapper of a break and the party crashes right back in. “Jaded Pilgrim” offers more high kicks and swag with a Velvets affectation and a darker sound, but still highly charged.. that’s one thing I love about this tape, it’s balls deep rock, full on, not a mid tempo track in the bunch, just straight up red line energy. The beautiful feedbacking buzzsaw psych noise breakdown on “Hedonism” is as close as one gets to drawing a breath throughout this recording, but it merely serves as torque to snap back into the onslaught. “Last Part” ends the show with some mathspazzingly fun guitar shred all the while held up by the very capable band. These dudes can play the shit out of their shit, but it’s all doused in a lo-fi basement psych sound that gives it it’s edge, totally. One of my albums of the summer for sure. - Big Takeover
From the astral glamour of Gregory Pike:
Sackville, New Brunswick used to be a soporific, folk guitar-addled college town where dreamy lullabies made kids sway back and forth like the reeds of their breezy marshes. But Astral Gunk are not the chaste marsh children of yesteryear; they are creatures from the freshly unshackled swamp. And at night, through the fog and gale-force Maritime gusts, they emerge only to find refuge in a desolate railroad-side jam shack on the outskirts of town, there submerging themselves in noise and gnarlitude. I wish there had been more bands like this back when I did my undergrad there. - weird canada
Discography
Astral Gunk s/t cassette (self released)(3 pressings of 100, sold out)
Tour Tape (50 copies, self released, sold out)
Rat king cassette (Killer Haze Records) (mix tape, 150 copies, sold out)
Rat King II cassette (killer haze Records) (200 copies, sold out)
Straight up James Dean cassette (Nervous Service records, 300 copies, out January 2013)
Herky Jerky b w/ street level (craft singles cassette, out January 2013)
Photos
Bio
Under a garage on the edge of industrial Sackville the rats are getting high on pesticides. Life is a punk rock comic book. You are smiling, front row, gums bleeding. Why is there always an asshole in the mosh pit? Astral Gunk is truly a band. With four songwriters that draw inspiration from their shared and individual sets of influences that span the peripheries of punk counter culture, the Gunk's presence has been melded by shared beer, drugs and experience. Eclecticism and conviction are words that come to mind. They are a band that believes in the rock n' roll revolution, only because the power its had over them.
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