Magnet Animals: Fake Dudes

Its press release refers to this band as a "combustible beat-skronk" unit for its follow-up to the 2016 Butterfly Killer album, where guitarist Todd Clouser iterates his poetry under the semblance of a rebel using a small megaphone. It seems as if he could be on a corner somewhere in Greenwich Village, NYC., to forewarn the willing populace of dour sociopolitical issues, along with oddball humor and sober expressionism. Once again, Clouser and guitarist Eyal Maoz (who played with Lou Reed, and John Zorn) generate an idiosyncratic and impactful sound propelled by bassist Shanir Ezra Blumenkrnaz (John Zorn, Pharoah's Daughter) and Mexican drummer Jorge Servin.

Ravaging guitars rule the roost here, along with a laisse-faire attitude, as the band plots a ragged course, spanning grunge rock, jazz-rock and metal. At times, the artists cast a semblance of dishing out meaningful sludge, powered by Servin and A+ session man Blumenkranz. On "Forecast in Rome," the quartet launches into swinging jazz riffs amid the bassist's ferocious walking lines as the guitarists generate nuances along with Clouser claiming to be a "rock and roll hijacker." Hence, they also add a little zing to the bygone classic rock era.

The band alters the scope during the slow tempo blues rocker "I'm the One," with angular distortion-tinged notes and Blumenkranz' monstrous fuzz-charged solo. However, Clouser and Maoz generate threatening mini themes via scorching notes on the profoundly expressive, "Man and Machine." And they go for broke on the punishing straight-four piece "That Call for the Cure," coupled with numerous manipulations and choruses, some of which could be mistaken for a top-40 pop melody. Add some reverse phrasings, odd treatments and scorching guitar licks into the mix and it stacks up to be a bold, in-your-face track which will root out the demons and purify your psyche. (Strongly recommended...)