MUSK is the new flesh, or at least what’s secreted from the glands located under the skin. Frontman Rob Fletcher is the last guy in the world you’d think had pheromones; they might work on him, but his voice is definitely in the “let’s get the fuck away from this guy” cat- egory, with his undeniable ability to growl, spit, shriek and wretch while the band attacks.

The weird thing about MUSK is that on top of all this malign beauty—what sounds like the six movies John Saxon made in Italy that nobody except the biggest creeps in the world know about, or Beefheartian blues lurch juxtaposed against that lost ’80s pigfuck clangor—guitarist Chris Owen bleeds reverb everywhere, as if his amp had a heart to be stabbed, but it’s just a cone about to rupture. His leads give off a sick, dusty twang, pained as if in their death throes (which is saying something, because the guy looks like the dad from The Family Circus). Each dying twitch and every belligerent throb was captured by engineer Chris Woodhouse (Oh Sees, Fuzz, Ty Segall, Intelligence).

Tracklisting:

01 Musk
02 Grandier
03 Funny Feelings
04 Drag House
05 Slow Burner
06 Last Stand
07 Rot Soft
08 Devil’s Hand
09 Trash Roof
10 Combat Shock II
11 Knuckle Dust
12 Black Ice