For 25 years now, Lightning Bolt has made a career out of indulging only the most gnarled riffs, covering every sound in brittle distortion, and playing live shows so loud and destructive that they—literally—blow out the power and leave the performers covered in blood. The duo’s dedication to this “move fast, break everything” mentality is still strong on Sonic Citadel, their seventh full-length album. The first song is called “Blow to the Head,” a three-minute blast of punishing kick drum, acrid bass riffs, and squealed vocals like a pile of styrofoam plates tossed on a bonfire. It’s as wonderfully ugly as anything they’ve ever made.
They keep up this energy—standouts include the surreal anthems “Bouncy House” and the Tilt-a-Whirl hardcore of “Tom Thump”—adding a handful of tracks to the pantheon of Lightning Bolt jams designed to keep your local audiologist in business. But where Sonic Citadel really takes off is in the moments where they deviate hardest from their formula. Underneath all the fuzz, there’s always been pop sensibility at work; Lightning Bolt riffs have been catchy in their own warped way since Ride the Skies. But at points, they allow those instincts to come into startling focus.
That’s telegraphed, in part, in some of the song titles, which reference Don Henley, Husker Dü, and Van Halen. None of these jams especially sound like classic rock or hair metal, but they are some of the most memorable moments in the band’s catalog. “Don Henley in the Park” is an especially notable curveball, built around overlapping bass riffs that sound like a Durutti Column song as played by the Tasmanian Devil. Chippendale’s nursery-rhyme vocals would almost be fit for a sing-along, if you could make out what he’s saying. (The lyric sheet isn’t especially helpful on this score; it reads “[improvised lyrics].”)
The record’s last vocal track, “All Insane,” is among the more straightforward songs in the Lightning Bolt catalog. Gibson does away with the frills and flourishes that often accompany his bass work as Chippendale settles into a steady mid-tempo beat, singing passionately of living life while the living is good. It’s surprising, but not unprecedented: Somewhere in the flailing limbs and searing volume of Lightning Bolt’s music was a call to squeeze everything you can out a moment, to do whatever it takes to feel something and to do so for as long as you can.
Buy: Rough Trade
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