Timmy’s Organism – Heartless Heathen
We can’t all be blessed with real names as awesome as Kurt Vile. Timmy Vulgar’s birth certificate, for example, reads Lampinen and it’s a name that really should be better known. Combustible frontman in garage-punk bands such as Clone Defects and the psyche-rocking Human Eye since the 90s, his pet project of choice these days is Timmy’s Organism (think taxonomy – it really doesn’t read orgasm, no matter how many times you re-read it).
Sitting already on two tremendous LPs released via [sic] favourites Sacred Bones and In The Red, Heartless Heathen comes courtesy of Third Man Records and alongside the new Wolf Eyes album released the same day it shows label owner Jack White’s determination to hoover up the best of Michigan talent. And you can well imagine the great man getting down to strutting garage-blues fuzz-bombers like “Mental Boy” and “Weather Woman”, the latter track’s groovy stomp and playful bar-room piano practically flashing red and white in its enthusiasm. Speaking of drinking, you can virtually smell the late-night rye and feel the sticky floors on Vulgar’s hyper-realistic punk-rock anthem “My Angel Above” as well.
You know that type of honest-to-goodness rock ‘n’ roll they simply don’t make any more? Well, nobody told Vulgar because, with the help of bassist Jeff Giant and drummer Blake Hill, Heartless Heathen is jam-packed (pun intended) with the stuff. Each track is truly a guitar lover’s delight. Slide guitar, wah wah and sweet riffing dominate, Ty Segall-levels of soloing and distortion running riot.
Vulgar’s plentiful hooks make this a damn good fun LP too, only the bluesy break-up ballad “Please Don’t Be Going” and its swooping FM choruses bringing down the party mood started by lead single, “Get Up, Get Out” – a lung-busting proto-punk hoot, its cruddy fidelity given an injection of pop via super-shiny riffs. The sneering title track, too, runs with a similar vibe, Hendrix funk introduced to 70s hard rock. Checking off yet more greats, “Back In The Dungeon” is a grubby, Sabbath-style rocker, sweat dripping off the roof, while the heavy “Wounded White Dove” closes out with magnificent chug. Heartless Heaven will play even better live without doubt. It has an energy that is barely contained on record. Handle it carefully in order it doesn’t blow up in your face.
Best track: “Get Up, Get Out”
~Heartless Heathen is released November 13th 2015 via Third Man Records.~