USA is a Monster

So you have a new record by a power duo going by the name of the USA is a Monster. The first seven tracks sound like an amphetamine version of the first side of Rush’s Caress of Steel. Then the next five have a folky vibe like Syd Barrett making a guest appearance on Led Zeppelin III. Then the last two tracks somehow take the elements of both and make a third strong thing. Oh, and the bulk of the album concerns America’s genocidal relationship to the Native. And it rocks like all the great outdoors have come into your trendy NY loft bar to party. This is Tom Hohmann and Colin Langevin’s fourth album together, aside from their other full band project called Black Elf Speaks with an album out on Bulb records. They’ve continued to refine their sound from the Citizens of Chronic/Citizens of the Universe releases on Infrasound records. Langevin’s electric guitar work is akin to Steve Albini’s in Shellac, shredding with an even higher tone that nearly achieves soprano sax notes at times. When the duo switch over to acoustic mode the mood has the narcotic appeal of Jackie-O Motherfucker’s more coherent moments. The lyrics are at once far-reaching, didactic and street-weirdo rambling. But who cares — you had to get strapped in for this ride anyway, didn’t you?