Racebannon/Song of Zarathustra
Near And Far Vol.2
Backroad Records/Level Plane Records

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If Heathcliff and the Joker were merged at the brain and locked in a revolving room with nothing but mattresses on the walls and a combination of ambient sounds, random audio samples, and Black Sabbath basement tapes played at various speeds you would have Racebannon.  They converse with themself in what is not clearly inner monologue or a coherent message, in an effor to determine which way is straight.

The first and second tracks are near identical and have neither word nor guitar.  Tracks 2 and 4 (also nearly identical) are the only real song-like tracks from Racebannon.  These songs are not really meant for musical enjoyment as much as they probably represent...something.  After a bad 20 minutes of this waltzin' and kickin', hell finally freezes over.

Ah, Song of Zarathustra.  While not showing that they are in any way a great band, the hint of melody and songlike structure are welcome.  They have the whole scream-every-syllable approach here.  It works.  It's difficult to tell - This band is either a chillin hardcore band playing typical indie-rock, or perhapsa typical indie-rock band playing really hard.  It isn't really bad, but it is not very memorable.  Among 3 tracks, little is distinguishing.  In the end, it seems like little more than the striking of instruments to confirm boredom, frustration, and desire to play music...which is totally fine.