There’s precious little info about this Perth based act floating around the internet, and my promo copy was austere in the what it was giving away. There’s a trifle more about the Badminton Bandit label but, still, they’re keeping their cards close to their chest at this stage. That the music is so good is creating intrigue in my mind – I want to know more.
The three track EP comes housed in a hand screen-printed and painted, sturdy, recycled card slipcase. The music has me thinking of no-wave more than anything else, but without a sense of retro-ness to be found anywhere. It’s a de-construction of the rock idiom, but done with one instrument at a time. So central track ‘Ology’ starts out with sampled bell tolls, dark and mildly distorted before gradually segueing into taught exploratory drums under a clanging, dry metallic rhythm. Faint organ drones and vocal incantations eventually build some sense of largeness, but it’s entirely different to the chaotic live drums and bass workout which melts into gentle electric guitar picking and then Velvet Underground blur of opener ‘Contador’. Third track ‘D+D’ almost sounds like math-rock for its opening three and a half minutes but finally dissolves into Barrett-era Floyd-freakout, becoming more and more gentle as it progresses, the antithesis of the rock finale.
Over 25 minutes, Mental Powers have me beguiled. I’ve listened to this countless times over the last few weeks and have not tired of it nor ceased to find interest in its nooks and crannies. At times droning, at others busily complex, alongside like-minded artists such as Crab Smasher, the group bring a sense of self-editing which is often missing in the worlds of nu-psychedelia improv. Their debut, Untitled EP is definitely worth tracking down.
Adrian Elmer
*
