CFM – Dichotomy Desaturated
Charles Francis Moothart’s debut solo album, Still Life Of Citrus And Slime, saw the Mikal Cronin associate successfully break out from a decade of largely unsung turns as a member of The Epsilons, the Ty Segall Band, FUZZ, the Moonhearts, Culture Kids and GØGGS with an unsurprisingly lo-fi yet enjoyable collection of catchy garage-punk riffing. Dichotomy Desaturated, two track titles apparently combined at random, is the multi-instrumentalist’s second LP under the initialism CFM and – if it ain’t broke, why fix it – picks up pretty much where its predecessor left off, which is to say deep inside the hallways of the school of Ty Segall. That’s not to say Segall is in actual fact any kind of mentor to Moothart, the latter first started ripping it in just this fashion around the same time as the former. It appears just serendipitous chance the two shredders’ worlds are so closely aligned, which is simply great news for anyone that just can’t get enough of their thang.
Moothart remains very much his own man nonetheless, and many of his structures are marginally the poppier, particularly now his fidelity is improved, which all makes distinguishing the two not only easy in reality, but also any attempts to do so unnecessary. Moothart’s best defense has always been offense in any case and so it again proves on Dichotomy Desaturated, a pogoing party of a record if ever there was one. “Lethal Look”, for example, bounces along on big guitars just for the sheer fun of it while “The Set Up” goes full-on battle stations for a weapons-grade fuzz attack, which of course rules. The righteous “Rise & Fall” also hits all the sweet spots, its thick stream of hard-rocking riffs a gnarly display of fret-based agility. In turn, the massive “Dead Weight”, almost eight minutes of blustering guitar action, then strangles solo after solo to great satisfaction. A miniature three-part concept over in five-minutes flat, the intense “Saline/The Man/Kind To You” even introduces a few new ideas to the Blues. In between come well sequenced breathers, mid-paced psychedelic melodies and meditative changes in tack, the glue that holds the unstable whole together. Mootheart no longer deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as others. He finally deserves dedications all of his own.
Best track: “Rise & Fall”
~Dichotomy Desaturated is released 28th April 2017 via In The Red.~