Koolaid (Global Tyranny)

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

5...according to our Mike on Wed 14 Dec, 2011.

Well, this one's madder than a box of frogs. It comes with a wildly diverse mixtape (WHICH HAVE ALL GONE NOW... SORRY!), awesomely bonkers sleeve art and a CD of the material on the LP, and even the label themselves (claim they) don't know who these guys actually are. As for that material itself, we're talking a giant multicoloured psychedelic blancmange of an album, using cut up samples, white-hot psych rock and power electronics to weld together one of the most propulsive and out-there psych records I've heard in some time. Opening with a series of thuds and rumbles and whooshes, it seems like it's going to be a fairly experimental affair until they dive headlong into blown-out psych rock territory in the second, much longer number. On the flip the psych rock continues, but this time it's more of an insistent laid back krauty jam with a repetitive bassline and keyboard melody backed by a pulsating drum groove. Actually, this second side is reminding me of Leeds psych sensations Hookworms with its Spacemen 3-inflected burblings. Just when we're getting comfortable, though, they go and throw us a big ol' block of sinister concrete with disembodied voices and high-pitched and echoed spectral drones, which then gives way to an almost Sabbath-esque neanderthal stomper of a riff, which builds and builds while samples and stuff fire off alongside it. Gloriously acid-fried freakouts right here.

So, we get a tape of this in the post, yes, a tape, and thought it was pretty wild, then heard nothing...then we get a CDR, well two of them, some mix cassette, and a CD containing some OTT modern day Pop Art sleeve design that is retina rubbling!....with a scrawled note claiming, "when you put the record out, you have to limit it to 500 LPs with a bonus free CD version that has a different mix of the music on it, NO Downloads whatsoever, and while your are at it, make some giveaway cassettes up of the mixtape we sent to go with it, and the sleeve has to be wrap-around, like it could be a poster, on thicker card too, full colour mind!...we are Koolaid (Global Tyranny) on this record...send us some copies when its done"....well that was telling us, so we had to put the record out. We listened to the CD again; it was bonkers, some wild psychedelic noise stomping round the room, meshed with some dark samples, really heavy and LIVE drums, almost a non stop mix of edge-of-the-seat paranoiac scuzz, with loops that pulse through the entire record. Like a modern day mix of the avant pop samplings and cut-up wizardry of Negativland, the obscure fractal pop psychedelic rock of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, some of the white hot guitar of the Stooges / Loop variety, and a primal beat /rhythm that could have been lifted from Cro-Magnon.. We started putting the RSD 2011 12" together, when another missive arrived, this time the message was simpler..."when's our LP coming out? And can you put this out too, we are Koolaid (Alien Ballroom) on this track...", that was a crunchy, noisy version of Daft Punk's "Da Funk", and nothing like this album..we put it on the RSD Agitated 12" release.. they fitted in well.. And no, we have no idea who is in the collective, band, or whatever they are or might be..in a way, that makes this even greater.... For fans of? Ask for a CDr, don't be scared... and ask for a CDr copy of the mixtape, it's a great slice of what might make these guys tick... 500 copies only on vinyl, in deluxe wraparound colour sleeve, with CD version (of diff mixes of the four tracks) and a mixtape.

Teddy Castor said:

Ouch, kind of futurisic kautrock, this one will get you high. Put it loud !

So, what do you think? Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!