Album Review: TTotals – TTotals 12”

Seeing as folks are already getting really excited about the 2012 election cycle, I figured I’d go ahead and join in. Bet you didn’t know that I’m a big proponent of the two-party system, well, when it refers to bands and not politics that is. TTotals (the first “t” is silent, y’all, there's no teetotallers here) partakes in the two-party form of band, one party being a singing guitarist by the name of Brian and the other being one heck of a drummer by the name of Marty. Their campaign promises are way better than the self-aggrandizing, lie-telling crap you’ll hear come November of next year (and pretty much starting now). Brian’s would probably involve promising to melt your face off with his guitar that alternates between viciously biting and honey-smooth, as does his voice. As for Marty, he’ll be pledging to set you on fire with his overpowering backbeat. What they both want you to remember is to “always shake off the haters,” pollsters.

These Nashville boys eschew the country sound that made their city a star, opting instead for a big bastard of a sound that reminds me of a few Fuzzy Logic favorites, namely the syrupy scuzz of ex-pats Mississippi Witch and the oh so dirty, bluesy raucousness of the first Archie Bronson Outfit record Fur. So special is their sound, they’ve given it its own genre: outer blues. Works for me. Their sensational 12” is a scant four songs long, and it left me at once incredibly sated yet still wanting a whole lot more.

First song “Upon Some Action” mixes molten hot rock & rollish behavior with some splendid shoegaze indulgence, while second song “Portrait of Man” is weighty and weary, creeping along like a gator on the hunt in some bayou swampland. Totally, utterly transfixing. Side B offers up two more tenacious gems, the spare, slow, transcendentally flourished “String of My Life” and “Take Care of Me,” a towering, droning wall of noise that sinks its teeth into you and gives you a few good shakes. It’s a perfect note to end things on, a bruising farewell to a breathless, brief encounter.

TTotals, my dears, is a very, very, very exciting band. I cannot wait to hear more out of them. And you best believe I’ll be at the Velvet Lounge tonight to see just what they can do live and in the flesh. You probably should be there, too.

04 Upon Some Action by Ttotals