In the era of the infinite-side-project built and constructed solely to tour and dispense a few fleeting cassettes into the world it is nice (to this author) to see groups practice longevity and vision--somewhat of a lost art-form in this here Current Underground. Not to say I ain’t a fan of the disposable and fly-on-the-wall mentality that has pervaded certain strains of subculture since their inception; but it is truly refreshing to hear a fully-realized and produced record with a real, verifiable identity. Take for instance this here record, BIG SNIFF, by the Vancouver-based globally-minded rock cosplay group PUZZLEHEAD spearheaded by a one Katayoon Y. and played out by a DIY-cadre of heroes and perennial-losers. Years of toiling in the underground, producing liminally xeroxed j-cards and mid-range home-dubbed music cassettes have lead them here to this point in their temporal-history: the production of a truly great Freedom Rock record. They made this because they had to. My tinnitus-laced ears hear anything from Canadian Stalwarts ERIC TRIP to the home-studio-tripped visions of ROYAL TRUX or even if the pop sensibilities of THE BREEDERS were filtered through the anything-goes vision of the SILTBREEZE LABEL. These are big songs. Not to say, with my useless comparisons, that this is a record anchored to a distant-slackered past, but rather, one that recontextualizes that past with urgency for our contemporary-fucked moment. Freedom Rock For the Now.
