Smokescreen

The core duo of Michael Bernstein (guitar, synth, vox) and MAya Miller (organ, vox) began their careers together as the extreme noise act Double Leopards. By 2005, they had left the industrial noise realm for the somewhat mellower pastures of Kraut explorations. Their last album on Ecstatic Peace was highly acclaimed and co-produced by label owner Thurston Moore. This new LP is in a similar vein - long, drawn-out and sprawling; the shortest song is just shy of the five minute mark. Pulse-like repetition and reed-organ oscillations are the main framework as the duo are joined here by Todd Cavallo on bass and Ryan Nadieau on drums. Like SB label-mates Moon Duo, or the recent signings of Chilean artist Follakzoid and The Holydrug Couple, Religious Knives draw from a well of pounding rhythmic drums and psychedelic drones with heavy organ and synth landscapes which envelope the listener fully.