We were quite uplifted when we recently heard the news that Talking Heads is thinking of a reunion. Of course the big question is whether David Byrne and the rest are still able to bring back the magic of yesteryear. Honestly, we are willing to make a pilgrimage for it, but doubts remain. And if it should fail, there is Doomsquad to dissipate the pain.
This trio from Toronto appeared in various trendy publications recently. We understand that you have had it with yet another band that is labelled as "the next big thing". You don’t have to believe us, but you better watch Doomsquad.
Simon Raymonde understood it too, and the successor of the 2014 debut album (Kalaboogie) is out on his Bella Union label. Beware, if we talk about Talking Heads, we don’t mean an uninspired copy like Vampire Weekend, but a band that mixes dance rhythms, post-punk, psychedelia and experimentation in an extremely original way. Diverse ingredients with equally diverse flavors, but once shaken vigorously, you get a masterpiece like Total Time.
The album was recorded in the desert of New Mexico, and the band got help from many renowned names: Mike Haliechuk of Fucked Up, members of HUREN, but also Mary Margaret O'Hara who sings along on the experimental The Very Large Array.
Total Time sounds anything but ordinary. You really can expect anything, even a song about a donkey with hilarious lyrics as my burro, my hero, my ass (single Solar Ass).
The band fears nothing, Farmer's Almanac begins as an absolutely new-age tune you better avoid, but as soon as the electronic beats and the dub echoes start, you know you are hit again by Doomsquad’s enchanting, very unique sound.
Indie folk with krautrock, psychedelia and post-punk guitars. That’s what you get in the opener Who Owns Noons in Sandusky? or the infectious Pyramids On Mars. Collective Insanity is a bit like Beach House, but it has a more obscure side. The band always admired Genesis P-Orridge, they never made it a secret, which is beautifully showcased on the experimental end song Russian Gaze.
Doomsquad creates unique music that can’t be summarized in a few words, it's more like an experience that puts your mind in a trance. To be placed among the pile of favorites of the year.