shit & shine: 54 synth-brass, 38 metal guitar, 65 cathedral

Taking the repetitive rhythmic drive of krautrock and marrying it to a percussive Butthole Surfers-style strain of acidic intensity, Shit and Shine have carved out a unique niche for themselves as one of the most unpredictable and -- occasionally -- outright unpleasant outfits in living memory. Like a robot Can-Hawkwind hybrid in a Philip K. Dick future, reassembling disco, abstract electronica, and noise rock into elegant new shapes, Shit and Shine furrow brows and fry synapses in equal measure. In spite of 54 Synth-Brass, 38 Metal Guitar, 65 Cathedral boasting a leaner, sleeker attack than before -- partly informed by the band's 2013 and '14 releases on Powell's Diagonal -- the same sense of gleeful perversity is abundant, and the same twisted humor ingrained in these grotesque and hypnotic grooves. Where there is rock within the album, its essence is morphed and feverishly formulated into extraterrestrial aural landscapes, as on the opening "Electric Pony 2," which lurches forth like Chrome alchemically reassembling the disembodied spirit of Marc Bolan in a scrapyard trash compactor. Elsewhere, specters of smooth jazz fusion lock horns with the against-the-grain approach of Aphex Twin and circular necro-Necks grooves are beset by demons. And the abstract funk of "Love Your Hair -- Hope You Win!" locks a Larry Graham-style groove in a vortex of digital disorientation. Brandishing an intimidating psychic attack and equipped as ever with both nameless menace and savage wit, rarely has a band made sounding so wrong sound so right. CD includes two exclusive tracks: "Goat $Hit" and "Egg MM-Mufin/Pimp Different."