Search - Sightings :: Through the Panama

Toxic sludge you can dance to!

Scott Bresinger | New York, USA | 12/06/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Previous releases by this Brooklyn noise-rock band (try Arrived in Gold if you dare) mixed sonic primitivism with digital tomfoolery. Vocals, when there were any, were grunted or moaned beneath a veritable lava landslide of feedback and effects. One release might move in a direction of Throbbing Gristle-esque minimalism, only to be followed by something akin to the cavemen in "2001" making war on the monolith in their midst. Now, with occasional rock star and noise enthusiast Andrew W.K. manning the boards, Sightings unleash their best produced and, dare I say, most "accesible" album to date. Now, when I say "accesible," that doesn't mean these guys are destined for enshrinement in any Billboard chart, unless they have one for "Eardrum Shredding Tracks." What's different this time out is the spaces between the noise eruption, which reveal something almost like actual song structure, but again that's a relative term. Then there's vocalist/guitarist Mark Morgan, who can be clearly heard chanting actual lyrics, most of which can be identified as being in English. Of course, don't get the idea that melodies are employed, as even a cover of the Walker Brothers' 60s nugget "The Electrician" is pretty seriously mangled. It's almost unrecognizable, but not completely, which for Sightings is a definite sign of progression. Mostly, though, with Richard Hoffman's paranoia-inducing bass, John Lockie's coldly mechanical, almost danceable digital drumming and Morgan's guitar fading in and out like a diseased, malevolent poltergeist, "Through The Panama" is perhaps a kindred spirit with industrial heavyweights like Einsturzende Neubauten (think Kollaps) or the noisier extremes of Skinny Puppy (Last Rights in particular). When you consider that this makes the album their most "commercial" effort ever, you can almost tell how subtereanean they were before. At this rate, they might even be almost radio friendly in about, oh, 5 albums or so. In any event, "Through The Panama" is the most forward-thinking and oddly hypnotic album of the year. Should you buy it? Hell, you should LIVE for it, even as it causes your hearing to die."