Ten High, Self-Entitled (Rare Plant Records)
Ten High are a new (to me) four piece based out of Fayetteville, AR. To date, the group has released three EPs, played shows will tgh faves like Aquarian Blood, and have name checked as inspiration several others, including the Blind Shake and Ex-Cult. Recently, drummer/vocalist Devan Theos was kind enough to pass along a link to their debut full-length, Self-Entitled (get it?), and I’m glad she did.
Self-Entitled finds Ten High tearing through an eleven-song set chock full o’ straight up r’nr, hints of psychobilly, 60s beat, hardcore, garage, psych – basically anything that sounds great played loud – all chewed up and spit out on a platter. Primary vocalist Cat Owens’ shredded pipes recall Reverend Beat Man’s gruff screed, pairing like a fine ripple with the jagged-edged guitar and short/sharp drum and bass combination of Theos and Aaron Smith (as a former – terrible – bassist, I love the thick, rubbery bass sound). Theos takes the mic sounding like a young Kate Pierson on the stomping “Skin Crawlers”, which comes off like a psychobilly take on Walk Among Us-era Misfits.
As with the best of so-called ‘noise’ rock, these tracks come based on infectious melodies residing dead center in the maelstrom. “Royal Blood” employs a bit of blues boogie, while “Fakers” had my brain checking to Three Dog Night, for fuck’s sake. Brilliant, even though I blame them for having “Mama Told Me Not to Come” for a full day…bygones.
Self-Entitled is available digitally and on cassette on April 5, courtesy of Rare Plant Records. Ten High will be on Greenway Records’ upcoming showcase at SXSW, for all you lucky mallards heading to Austin. There’s also a few dates before that, as well as a west coast US tour planned for the summer – check out the Ten High fbook for the dates.
Highlights include: “User’s Choice”; “Skin Crawlers”; “Fakers”; “The Trouble”.
