Quirky. Fast. Upbeat. Restless. High-Pitched. Sweaty. Poly-rhythmic. Hectic. Adjectives that can all be used to give a quick sense of the new Godcaster EP, out on Ramp Local. Saltergasp is as unusual as the name implies.
Bands like Pavement and The Fall of Troy, Rush and Minutemen come to mind when listening to this EP by The Fall of Troy and Frank Zappa, King Gizzard and Drive Like Jehu come to mind when listening to the hectic amalgam by NYC-rockers Godcaster which was recorded live during a basement ritual in Philadelphia.
The spontaneous flow and directionless-ness of the short collection of songs (the four songs clock in at roughly nine minutes only!) is certainly indebted to the recording situation and maybe the songs were never really intended for publication, but the way these gem of Garage-Punk-Psychedelia is presented should warm the hearts of lovers of the unconventional. That’s exactly what these songs are: Each of them has a core of Garage-Punk, funky, hard-played basslines, a drum kit bursting with live and vocals so out of tune that they are fine-tuned to the max. Everything just oozes the tension of the situation and all of it is garnished with a near-cacophonic topping of flute-clarinet elements which are somewhat over the top so that it is seemingly senseless. The vocals delivered by Judson and Von Kolk and David McFaul are often extremely falsetto and do not serve any harmony.
And now the most important thing about this short EP (which screams for a short review): It is so much fun to listen to the guitars sprinting up and down the guitar necks, the drums trying to jump-start every song, the vocals not caring at all about “sounding nice” - the whole EP is a hyperventilating system of fun and free-attitude! Wonderful chaos!
