"Quaternary Panorama" by Lucius Fox

Lucius Fox is a two piece instrumental band from Michigan. Often they are severely energetic. In short bursts, they are soothing and ambient. Usually they are a frantic mix of both worlds. When I saw them live, their guitarist Jeremy was playing out of two amps. I’m pleased to hear the guitars doubled, panned, and sometimes tripled on Quaternary Panorama. I bet you’re wondering. Does he use an octave pedal? You tell me.

Quaternary Panorama sounds home-recorded in all of the best ways. The drums are natural and heavy. The playing is tireless and clean. The guitars sound like they were recorded with real amps instead of vst plugins. Actually, maybe I can’t tell. There are a lot of tones going on but I think I can still pick up that signature Fender twang frequency. Aside from the fuzzy fenderiness of the guitars, I get some Satriani vibes. I could see myself surfing in the sewers of the future with a Lucius Fox cassette in my vintage walkman. I could even skate to this music if I felt especially suicidal.

There was a riff in Carved by Glaciers. They played it twice and then it was gone. It made me feel such emotion for a moment and proceeded to punish me with blistering noodleage. I don’t know if there is a name for mathy riffs that are just too fast to call riffs because you can’t bang your head to them. I felt like I was on molly and it wasn’t going so good but then… the riff came back! Better than ever.

The build up in Laurentide II: Birth is nearly unforgettable. I wouldn’t mind if most of their set was more digestible, like Growth except for one song just to show how much they kick ass. Maybe when they get really old they’ll mellow out a bit. A hundred riffs later, my heart softens for the proggy synth tones in Sunset/The Straits Ablaze.

Please don’t snooze on this album. Even if math rock isn’t your thing, you will still find moments of inspiration. You will hear sounds that aren’t recorded anywhere else. Do you ever lay in bed at night, fatigued from the work day but your mind still will not shut up? I think you should listen to a few tracks of Lucius Fox and try again. I’m pooped.

"Songs of the Steer’n Wheel Gripper" by Serial Mouse

On their bandcamp page, Serial Mouse claims to transcend genre. Still, I’m going to try to categorize them.   From northern Indiana, Serial Mouse plays occasionally extreme progressive rock, likely recorded in a garage (onto a digital 8 track), to be blasted over the deafening engine of your antique hesher van.  You and the gang might pull over and cash a steel reserve.  By the time you remember to turn the stereo down, you're already blasting off toward the deepest dimensions of bumfuck.  

The scenery is bleak but still you must race forward. To where? Who gives a RAT’s ASS?

I met Serial Mouse’s drummer/lead vocalist/auto harpist/sampler/visual artist back in December 2017 when Atkinson played drums in a metal fusion band (think rototoms and fretless bass) called Angel Grave.  Their show made me want to buy my own conversion van and pair of paisley slacks.

Serial Mouse seems to have formed at Angel Grave’s funeral.  Actually, it’s a little more up my alley than the old band.  At times I'm reminded of King Crimson, if they'd only been raised in the early 90s.  My favorite track is Nest Decaying, mostly because of its pronounced bass line.  My 2^nd favorite is probably Emerald Visions of an Unborn Czar.  The last two tracks give us more of a definite black metal vibe, which I especially appreciate when mixed with the rest of their sound.   I was surprised, since the northern darkness hadn't showed its face much in the earlier tracks.  Perhaps if that had been so, I'd have obeyed the temptation to pause and work on my drum chops for a bit.  These guys get fast.  

I love homemade albums.  They are the only pieces of music I want to review here in the zone.  I love how every amateur recording engineer has their own host of interesting quirks, giving a rare shine to every release.  Love it.  Still, we are forced to take the good quirks with those less desirable.  On this release I love the close-up, uncompressed sound of the drums.  I can articulate most of the guitar work but, I get that reverb is often used, the amps themselves sound too far away for me.  It does, however, add to the played in a garage vibe.  The amp sound doesn’t bother me as much as the lack of bass guitar.   The few times I can hear a bass, it is too far off for me to discern.

Even if you don’t buy the digital album, I recommend DEFINITELY checking it out. To me, Songs of the Steer’n Wheel Gripper is nothing short of sick. I give it an A+.