Abatis
Now You’re Paying For Sleep
Independent release, 2012
On this EP, by San Fran’s incomparable Abatis, they delve further into the tension filled dark distorted waters they hinted at on their first release, “Electric Dead.”
The title track, “Now You’re Paying for Sleep” thrums along at a steady clip. Hypnotic, controlled and meditative; it feels as though the band has taken it’s time, coloring the guitar tones with sonic details and deeper textures, giving more thought to what they play than just relying on muscle. The four songs become tone poems, like the soundtracks to a film they haven’t shared with the rest of us. The band plumbs these depths with manic bursts of white noise guitars. Violently engaging before settling back down.
Once again “So Hard to Reach” paints with almost exclusively with light and dark hues, to great effect.
Guitarist Sean Wagner and bassist Stuart Maaslehbrown both sound as though they are playing through overloaded speakers and recorded through microphones pegged into the red. This wall of buzzy sound can barely be contained. They don’t make speakers big enough to hear them properly.
Whether conscious or not, Abatis seem to be successfully channeling the spirit of early free form distortion acts. They are bent on carving their own path and standing apart from countless look-alike and try to sound alike acts. And thank God they do.
This EP is available as a free download from the bands Facebook page. You’d be flat out dumb to pass this up.