Lightning Bolt - Ride The Skies
2000 Load Records
by Lamp

Quick Summary:
Another band hailing from the artsy city of Providence, Lightning Bolt don their crazy masks (or at least the drummer does) to bring you an album that goes up and down and all about.  A welcome departure from their earlier releases, the Brians have graduated from the incoherence of the noise genre (as displayed on their Yellow Album) to bring something that while still rather noisy, displays some sort of structure in an effort to bring the best of both worlds out.  And most of the time, I would say they succeeded with something that throws you for a loop, but not so much that you can't follow it.

The wide variety of bass effects including fuzz and chorus add a certain loudness to the bass playing that even Brian Gibson's massive 3800-watt rig couldn't do alone.  Brian Chippendale plays great on the drums (kind of like a "solo all over the
place" style) but also adds his voice.  You have to listen for it though, it's not easy to pick out all the time (look to the beginning of 13 Monsters for a clue).  Now these guys are off working on a new studio release and having heard a few of the tracks live, I can't wait for it.

Website:  http://laserbeast.com

Song Summaries:

1. Forcefield - Absolutely amazing.  I've never heard such a stilted melody in my life.  The clean bass part at about 3:10 is also one of
   the most bizarrely delightful things to ever enter my ears.  A+

2. Saint Jacques - If you can stomach the first three minutes of the
   song being primarily one note, then at the end you're treated to the
   distorted and unusual Lightening Bolt version of Frère Jacques.  Good stuff, high speed.  The beginning...not so good.  C

3. 13 Monsters - After the first time I saw this band live, upon me mentioning that they didn't play this song, one of my friends said, "If they played 13 Monsters, somebody would have left the show in a body bag".  That should pretty much cover it.  A+

4. Ride The Sky - The first minute or so drags on a little, but once the drums start getting into their full rhythm, this becomes a rising tune to make out to (as demonstrated in the DVD).  A

5. The Faire Folk - Six minutes of weird, bloopy techno on both clean and distorted channels.  It's okay, but not really what you'd expect from Lightning Bolt.  Pretty repetitive too.  C-

6. Into The Mist 2 - The unofficial Lightening Bolt grindcore song.  Very fast to very slow.  Takes names and breaks faces.  B+

7. Wee Ones Parade - The first couple minutes are pretty funny, but the end of the song gets old real fast.  While listening to this at work once, a coworker asked if the CD was skipping.  I almost had to wonder that myself.  C-

8. Rotator - Some of the most bizarre noises on the album.  It can 
   probably best be described as a cat meowing furiously while being tossed around in the dryer.  The last minute is especially cool with that funky riff.  B
   
   

Average Song Rating:  B
Overall Album Rating:  B+