18 November 2014

OCTAFISH


This 1989 demo was in a pile of stuff I got from a friend years ago and I just kept skipping past it until this past weekend....it was worth the wait. You want this to be some lost goth punk gem, and it gets close at times, but this is pure psychedelic freakout gold - tracks like "Old Nik" and "Drop Dead" just burn and the guitar is impossible to contain. Listen to the vocals on "Professor Heed," it sounds like she is so busy losing her shit that she can barely make it over to the microphone to lay down her tracks, and then the guitar starts off with some theremin sounding shit lurking under the surface, taking only a short break before filling the last 90 seconds with solos while the drums keep surging forward. I can't tell (nor do I care) where these maniacs were coming from and the recording is rough around the edges at times, but this near-hour long demo is going to be one hell of a reward for you monkeys brave enough (read: smart enough) to take the plunge. 

Also, more than once when listening to this for the first time, I thought, "This kinda sounds like AMEBIX." Tell me I'm crazy.


3 comments:

K said...

What a terrible name, but this is some real haunting psychedelic punk. Especially crucial are all nine minutes of "Valley of Ghosts."

Anonymous said...

I remember this tape my friend metal Mel had it back in the day
and it was all he listen two for 2 week's listening to it reminds me of him he died in 1990 driving drunk what a shame he was a good
friend

Malachai Fullilove said...

This is powerful schtuff that I can see soon getting it's just due. Population, Rakta, Belgrado, Arctic Flowers, Vivid Sekt, and the rest of the New Wave of American Goth take note of the mighty Octafish... this is yer roots even if you never heard of 'em.