gr: a reverse age

Truth comes today from France's Gregory Raimo, once again taking up the mantle of the performance moniker GR. Raimo has been shredding with ingenious ferocity for a number of years now, both alone and as guitarist/vocalist for Gunslingers, a power trio fortified by his relentless barrage of guitar noise and rhythmic imperative. A Reverse Age is Raimo's third and most intense solo album, following a collaborative EP with Michael Yonkers. Those of you in the know will hear Yonkers' late '60s period influence, whether it be myth or reality (only the artist is telling), as you might also find the strange, hissing atmosphere of Alien Soundtracks-era Chrome or the psychic limbering-up of The Magic Band evident in GR's music. Real, productive damage comes from within, however, and that's where A Reverse Age performs its miracles. It figures that you would need to go back 30 to 40 years in the history of underground or fringe music to find any sort of precedent to its eight songs. Its restless nature highlights Raimo's frantic compositional structures and explosive playing across guitar, bass and drums alike, the product of one guy with real vision and the skills to pull off a work of virtuosic hostility such as this one. Riffs sizzle and burn up, pushed through effects that somehow cheapen lesser works yet bolster this one. Things you know -- eldritch forest folk, roadhouse blues, aggressive jazz-style drumming -- are distended near to the point where they become part of GR's own musical syllabus, grounded by GR's street-corner vocal hustle, sounding like Armand Schaubroeck rapping into a CB radio in a stolen car, out joyriding and knocking off side view mirrors.