Yesterday saw the release of a new LP from Los Angeles noise rock quartet Foot Village, which is out via Northern Spy. Titled Make Memories, the record is also available to stream in full above via the band's SoundCloud.
In describing Foot Village, noise rock is an accurate term only in a literal sense rather than a historical one. The band bears little resemblance to bands like Sonic Youth, Big Black, or The Jesus Lizard, instead forgoing much of the tonal basis which underlies the music of those bands. That is, Foot Village sticks almost exclusively to percussion and vocals, the latter offering little in the way of melody. Its absence is accounted for by a pure punk energy, however, which pairs very fittingly with the thunderous onslaught of rhythmic stimulation brought on by the four percussionists. When tonal instrumentation does show up, such as on the last track, it used less as a means of offering conventional accessibility and more as a means of creating atmosphere, one which is consistently and unabashedly disorienting. Reaching just under the 35-minute mark, Make Memories is anything but overlong, instead choosing to make its statement in a very concise and unrestrained manner.