So what exactly is the difference between an xNoBBQx recording and a couple of 14 year olds bashing instruments in the garage with record pressed down on one of their mum’s old tape recorders? Probably not a whole lot, actually, but I get the feeling that’s precisely the point. Picasso once famously said, “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child”. The kind of joyous abandon found in the grooves of this piece of vinyl make me think of that quote constantly.
To actually try and ‘review’ this music seems a little arbitrary. Nick Dan bashes the pieces of his drum kit, Matt Earle lets his guitar and amp hum and buzz. That’s pretty much it. There’s very little in the way of structured rhythm or melody. It’s all recorded at such a saturated level that any and every sound peaks as obliterated distortion. Sometimes, it feels as though something like a song might be trying to break through, with the vague remnants of the human voice even discernible, but these moments are put to rest quickly so the clang and squall can make their presence dominant again. The distortion of the recording process is the main sonic detail here. I have not seen xNoBBQx in a live context, but I would be very interested to see how they go about things there, because the actual quality of the recording is so intrinsic to their music. By recording into their tape machine at such an into the red level, there is a constant warmth in the buzz of every sound. The human ear has no equivalent function and, while there is certainly a harshness to the recording, I imagine the harshness of the live performance would lose much of the music’s warmth. As it stands on this release, there is something comforting about the consistency of the noise level – the absolute compression means nothing jumps out as a shock once you’re acclimatised and the brief moments of recognisable sound in the way of cymbals or ambient hum shimmer like shards of pure colour in the sludgy mess around them.
This is definitely not easy listening. But it’s incredibly playful and joyful. Oddly enough, I found that my favourite use for the music was as background ambience. At lower levels its warm wash can be quite appealing. I’m sure that would probably be one of the last intentions of the band, but it worked for me. And, of course, there’s always the pleasure of watching the Photoshopped sausages work their way around your turntable as the picturedisc vinyl replicates the top of the great Australian BBQ.
Adrian Elmer
