THE UKIAH DRAG
THE UKIAH DRAG'S NEWEST SLAB IS MORE LIKE A TAPED-UP SCRAPYARD MAJESTY THAN A SLICK-PRICK SHOWBOAT -- IT'S DISCERNIBLE THAT EACH SONG WAS RECORDED SEPARATELY, EACH WITH ITS UNIQUE PROTUBERANCES. THERE IS POSITIVELY NO ILLUSIONS OF UNIFORM TASTE. IT'D LEAVE THAT TEDIUM FOR THE FLAVORLESS CUTS WHO LIKE THEIR PSYCHEDELIA STARCHED AND STERILIZED.
"AN OPEN ROOM IN HELL" IS AN INVITATION FOR LISTENERS TO ICE THEIR MORTAL COIL AND TAKE THE ELEVATOR DOWNSTAIRS. NATURALLY IT'S A FAST ONE AND IT VOLLEYS HARDER THAN MOST DRAG SONGS TO DATE. "CRIMINAL AUTHORITY" IS ZZ RAMIREZ'S ODE TO A RESTLESS SOCIOPATH LUSTING FOR PERSONAL ANNIHILATION, LOOKING FOR THE ILLUMINATING LIGHT UNDER A PILE OF TRASH. THE SULTAN'S LEAD GUITAR BEAMS STRAIGHT LIKE AN AMPHETAMINE-DERANGED SURF ROCK NUMBER AND CUTS YOU DOWN. (THE CROWDS LOVE TO BOOGIE TO THIS ONE LIVE.)
THEIR REDUX CUT OF AN OLDER SONG, *DOWNPOUR*, IS CERTAINLY THE ONLY SONG THAT RELEASES THE PRESSURE A BIT, THE EYE OF THE HURRICANE. YET AT THE END IT CLIMAXES AND DECAPITATES THE LISTENER WITH SLIDE GUITAR AND BIZARRE PERCUSSION ARRANGEMENTS. PERHAPS THE CORONA OF THE CRYPT CRUISER IS THEIR TAKE ON THE STOOGES* CLASSIC *DIRT*-- EDITED DOWN FROM A TWO HOUR LONG JAM WITH THE IMMORTAL NICK KLEIN. PRIMITIVE BUT WELL-ARRANGED ROCKNROLL WITH ENORMOUS ENERGY, NO PRETENSE OR FOOLERY.
PRESS:
· HTTP://PITCHFORK.COM/REVIEWS/ALBUMS/19670-THE-UKIAH-DRAG-IN-THE-REAPERS-QUARTERS/
· HTTP://PITCHFORK.COM/REVIEWS/TRACKS/16088-THE-UKIAH-DRAG-THE-RATS-WALTZ/
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19670-the-ukiah-drag-in-the-reapers-quarters/
STANDING IN THE PISSING RAIN MUST BE A DRAG: Recorded in a secularized Lutheran temple off the banks of the Hudson River, Ukiah Drag's new LP In the Reaper's Quarters (produced by Ben Greenberg) is fine projection of basement rumination finding temptation in the halls of an ex-God. Straddling the church balcony, licking the scum off stained glass, crooked steeples refracting moonlight and bloodThere is no erasure of the Satanic ego as it the Drag moves onto new spiritual drippings. While the band's Dirt Trip single was hard but not necessarily unforgiving, In the Reaper's Quarters is a hellish maw that chews up tired rock and post punk tropes only to reanimate them in other austere and lonely offices. You may chew on its bones and swallow its scales but they'll cling to your pockmarked soul indeed.
Pulsating organs strobe their way through flattening riffs and creep beats; on many tracks the listener will hear a sex-crazed baby grand slinking sinfully into the reaper's pit. Their rendition of Lee Hazlewood's "Wait and See" will break the emotional turnstiles of many a troglodyte. This is a widow-making full length that marks and culminates every player's previous efforts to a blunt and remorseless tee. For fans of the violent prose of Harry Crews, Bobby Beausoleil's score of LUCIFER RISING, and the hallowed walls of Chateau Marmont.
Track List:
1.Intro
2. Her Royal Grip
3. The Rat’s Waltz (redux)
4. Final Prayer
5. Drip from the Fang
6. Wait and See
7. Night of Immaculacy