Lightning Bolt
Fantasy Empire
Every once in a great while, an album is released that challenges the industry's definition of "loud." Minstry's The Land of Rape and Honey, My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, Sleigh Bells' Treats, All have laid claim to "loudest record" but, inevitably, another will rise and take it's place. Lightning Bolt's Fantasy Empire is meant to be played on speakers, not headphones, with the knob all the way up and the needle firmly in the red. If your neighbors or fellow drivers can't hear the pounding drums or fuzzed-out guitars, it's not loud enough yet.
Certainly, it helps that the songwriting is both catchy and original, making no part of the album a retread; but the muffled, indiscernible vocals, and the driving, propellant rhythms turn what could be a tired, hazy rehashing of No Age into a forced death-march. Longer songs are made all the more compelling by the insane talent of both musicians: drums that never seem to slow down and a bass guitar played more ferociously than humanly possible.
If you want sonic diversity, if you need a wall of noise, if you feel as though you will not have lived your life to the fullest without blowing an eardrum, I have two words for you: Lightning Bolt. A million times, Lightning Bolt.
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