(Tenzenmen)

Chinese noise-rockers debut with 2010’s most schizoid CD so far

China’s bustling indie rock scene is overdue for exposure in the West, with Muscle Snog a prime example. Formed in 2006 in Shanghai, the five-piece explore areas neither Deerhoof nor Deerhunter have trodden on their remarkable debut album Mind Shop. With priceless song titles like Mind Shop Is On Sale, Happy Dreamer On A Sad Bed, The Reverse Cowgirl and Think And Shit (also the best number here), the CD is as trippy and odd as it is exhilarating. From the spooky Intro onwards, it’s sheer noise-rock nirvana as effects-pedal hell breaks loose. Offset by vocalist Maimai’s astonishingly clear delivery, guitarist Hei Xiongmao’s eardrum-piercing assaults often bring to mind Agatha of cult Japanese noiseniks Melt-Banana. The mercifully brief Specimen Of Chicken and Cat are concise slices of whacked-out guitar-rorism complete with animal noises, while on the opposite end of the songwriting scale, the ’90s-style Call It Pop Song would do Teenage Fanclub proud. The closing double of the Sonic Youth-meets-MBV Boy With Burning Legs and the JAMC-goes-berko take on The Beatles’ perennial A Day In The Life (which would probably rattle John Lennon’s spirit with its nothing-is-sacred abandon) gradually melts down like a dying distortion stompbox. Enter The (Fuzz) Dragon.

DENIS SEMCHENKO

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