Nest Egg – Dislocation
Nest Egg’s very decent Nothingness Is Not A Curse flew under many a radar in 2018 and the similarly styled Dislocation may now end up doing the same, but it shouldn’t because it’s even better. All the same, the space-rocking North Carolina trio ain’t fixing what ain’t broke, landing 40 more minutes of nose-to-tail misery.
Fast out of the traps, an aggressive motorik dominates, hissing cymbals and dark distortion on the tails of Harvey Leisure’s heavily reverbed incantation. Early highlight “Eraser” is pretty ace as a result, bleak kosmische staring down the barrel of hard-psych. The quick-fire rhythms continue on the title track, sharp guitar parts throwing up the spectre of some beefed-up post-punk, ringing feedback leading the nihilistic gloom to a freak-out of a finale with all the warp-drive whoosh of a Romulan warbird.
Named after the fabled fugitive hijacker, “D.B. Cooper” presents a more pensive, post-apocalyptic landscape picked over by vulturistic guitar, Thom Nguyen’s ticking rim-shot percussion bouncing off sheets of grey guitar noise. A spicy two-minute ripper readjusts the set, “Helix” then disorientating the listen appropriately with swirling drones, pulsing analogue synth and shimmering guitar parts, blown-out static and snarling drum repeats ready to take the roof off your cranium live, the respite offered by the splashy, maximal closer just more noisy misanthropy. Let them win you over though, and Nest Egg will more than prove the value of your investment.
Best track: “Eraser”
~Dislocation is released July 10th 2020 via the collaborative efforts of Acid Test Recordings and Little Cloud Records.~