When searching for new grooves to lend an ear to we, at Desert Psychlist, tend to gravitate towards music that carries an air of familiarity yet at the same time is able to challenge us as a listener. Of course there is plenty of music we absolutely adore that adheres firmly to the borders of the genres its purported to represent but there is also something about music that disregards all the rules that really sets our spider senses tingling and Magic Chicken Fudgetoe, Joshua McGuire (vocals,/bass); Andrew Watchirs (guitar) and Reece Fleming (drums), are a band who make music that breaks rules. Now we at Desert Psychlist are not going to try and pull the wool over our readers eyes by trying to pretend we have been long term fans of Magic Chicken Fudgetoe, in fact pressing play on the bands latest release "Book Of Uranium-235 And Other Hymns.. And Other Hymns" is our first experience of hearing this band, but after just one listen to the albums diverse and twisted mix of alternative metal, doom, thrash and heavy psych we knew this was an album we were going to have to review..
"Book Of Uranium-235 And Other Hymns...And Other Hymns" begins with "Season From Beyond" a mostly instrumental number boasting thick doomic riffage and powerful rhythms supporting sampled narration, President John F. Kennedy's 1961 address to the General Assembly of the United Nations, the emphasis here on the prophetic observation that "every inhabitant of this planet must contemplate the day when this planet may no longer be habitable". Next comes "Wilbur", again the feel is doomic and sludgy but there is also an air of underlying grunginess to be found here, lyrics on this tome are kept to a minimum and consist of just the words "war", freeze" and "now" and are incanted in an angsty howl, a great example of how just a few words can say so much. "Children of Atom" cleverly transposes Adam for "atom" in its title to tell a tale of a generation brought up under the threatening shadow of a nuclear apocalypse, a musical mish mash of stoner-like refrains and alt-metal dynamics the song utilizes a mixture of clean melody and throaty forcefulness to get its lyrical points across. "Dying Mind" follows, its deliciously rumbling bass line and simple but totally effective drumming working as a platform for some seriously impressive Wah pedal fuelled guitar work, the song boasts quiet/loud/quiet dynamics and those dynamic are reflected in the vocals which switch from clean homely crooning in the songs quieter parts to impassioned throaty screams in its more intense sections. Magic Chicken Fudgetoe have no fear of taking paths less travelled and that becomes evident on the quirky and off-piste "Patron of the Misborn" a song that boasts a detailed and disturbing lyrical breakdown of the effects of radiation poisoning delivered in slightly detached vocal tones over an off-centred semi-acoustic musical backdrop. Whispered vocal tones evolve into manic eyed screaming and slowly revolving guitar motifs morph into manically spinning heavy psych refrains for the mind-blowing "Anchorite" while "Mictlan" mixes Nirvana-esque structuring with elements of punk and hardcore furiosity. There is a playful swinging vibe about next song "Heretic" that is sonically somewhat reminiscent (to these ears) of Brit-pop/indie pioneers Blur, Desert Psychlist is not quite sure how this lyrical tale of trying not to be a square peg in a round hole works with the albums post-apocalyptic theme but then we guess that is something that would become a survival strategy in dystopian society. Lastly comes "Virgin AfterBirth", this song starts light airy and relatively psychedelic but then explodes into a feral onslaught when the first verse appears, the songs lyrics spat out with an angsty venom, occasionally interrupted by smooth clean crooning, over angular rhythms and jagged guitar textures, the song only returning to its initial psych leaning groove in its final moments.
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