The music of Bloomington, Indiana’s Racebannon falls somewhere between the demented sludge metal of the Melvins and the lurching, discordant pig-fuck of the Jesus Lizard, as if those two bands got together to do a fuckload of coke and orchestrate the ultimate noise rock jam session, but ended up getting slaughtered in a standoff with DEA agents while their rehearsal space burned to the ground. Their latest album, Six Sik Sisters, is a truly unsettling listen, a chronicle of monumental musical depravity that sounds like it could come unglued at any given moment.
Six Sik Sisters is my first exposure to Racebannon, so I can’t speak to how their violent and volatile brand of metallic psychosis has progressed over the years. I can say that listening to this album is like riding on a piss-covered slip ‘n’ slide through the gutters of humanity, all herpes-damaged tranny prostitutes, junky-zombies covered in open sores and dirty old men in bloody clown suits with raging, drug-induced boners. At least, those are the images that come to mind when I listen to this nine track, twenty-five minute fuck-fest, as my promo copy didn’t come with the actual lyrics. This is the kind of stuff that makes the mind wander into some hideous fucking places.
Musically, Racebannon throws elements of the aforementioned sludge and noise in the genre blender along with dollops of hardcore and straight-up rock ‘n’ roll and sets that bitch to puree, but the concoction still manages to come out thick, chunky and reeking of week-old dog shit. Six Sik Sisters was recorded with the ubiquitous Kurt Ballou at God City Studios and it sounds positively ripping, the songs jump out of the speakers and chase you around with a chainsaw while wearing a pig mask ala Motel Hell. As I mentioned earlier, the band sounds like they could come unglued at any given moment, but the more I listen to Six Sik Sisters, the more I’m starting to think that the band waited to pick up their instruments until after they had already come unglued.
Bristling with manic tension and drenched in disturbing atmosphere, Six Sik Sisters is a cacophonous roller coaster ride into the gaping bowels of musical perversion. Racebannon could probably crush you with their twisted heaviness, but if this album is any indication, they’d probably rather get you fucked up on drugs, tie you to a tree out in the middle of nowhere and you use your ass for a cum dumpster.
THKD 