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LP
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GODRECORDS 027
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"What happens when you take a band operating within the imposing, steel-grey confines of Chicago and ship 'em out to the sunny beaches of southern California to make a record? You get Blinded By Oblivion! Axis: Sova have crystallized on every level with their latest, dropping a total classic in the process -- a perfectly conceived album of head-catching tunes in proliferation, produced to transmit polarities to our synapses with every song. It ain't Axis: Sova without a creeping sense of inalienable oppositions at work -- this time, the brutal truths lie beneath flags of conquest flying in the electric wind, the introspection extroverted to explore human condition, intention, and manipulation in the modern world. Blinded By Oblivion zeroes in with zero fucks on these Axis concerns, excited by sounds sourced from high water moments in the rock and roll eras: present, past and future. At times ferocious and slavering, at others, gleamingly diamond-cut, the clash of industrial steel vs. indelible nature is sonically palpable. You get it all, right out the gate: in the bright opening moments of 'People,' Blinded By Oblivion's first cut, an induction of dreamy guitar textures from all corners set up the immortal opening couplet, 'People will be the end of people / People will snuff the light.' From there, the accelerated, percussive thrust that begins 'Hardcore Maps' launches a sequence of quick-hitting singles, each demonstrating a melodic attunement previously only touched upon in the Axis-verse. While earlier releases Motor Earth and Early Surf dwelt in subterranean corridors mottled with lo-fi and psychedout sonics, 2018's Shampoo You sharpened their song-craft and fidelity, pushing vocal arrangements forward. Blinded By Oblivion accelerates this conception to new heights, thanks in part to the bold, hi-fi production courtesy of Ty Segall, who helped bring the band's latest vision to life at his Harmonizer Studios. That vision became hyper-focused with the sweet addition of (human) drummer Josh Johannpeter to the Axis fold. Combined with new drum machines, the rhythms found on Blinded By Oblivion are split in sensual arrangement between organic and synthetic beats on every song. This stereo divergence opens space for Jeremy Freeze's buoyantly grounded bass and Brett Sova's guitar adventures to tap the source with unprecedented contrast and brevity, while providing bedrock for their refreshingly assured vocals to gloriously harmonize. All the elements are there: compassion for our collective fallibility, rebuke on the tip of the tongue, all rolled tight with hook-laden, high-energy construction..."
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