I like surprises, and the nice folk at new Belfast label Freak Flag sent one to Ave Noctum containing an EP and a single from their new releases. Both are available on vinyl in limited numbers so if either description below tickles your fancy then get running. They also provided a nice lot of PR info on both bands and there’s a fine sense of enthusiasm here from the label who mark themselves out as being into ‘heavy blues/psych rock/garage/punk/doom/rock n roll’. All the best to them I say.

Now the music. First up we have a single from Howlin Widow, a recently defunct band. This is up tempo, sore throat vocal, pounding stoner blues. ‘Exorcised Accidental’ has a Led Zep vibe tied into the Orange Goblin metal fuzz and bounces along like good ‘un while ‘Son Shine’ has a deeper groove and a biker blues feel that elevates it well above the norm. Shame they are no more, but a posthumous 7.5/10.

Linked by a vocalist, the ‘Lonely Doom’ EP from the oddly named Bad Boat was the bands last recording in 2009 after one full length but they have shaken off their premature death and are once more active. Thank fuck, if this is anything to go by. Opening with the title song, this begins with a deranged sense of up tempo doom that Pentagram trademarked but put through a blues/psych filter. Cleaner vocals give way to the raw rasp and a great sludge riddled chaos that kind of drags you through The Stooges raw open sounds before kicking your sorry ass back into the doom. Marvelous. ‘Mechanical World’ is a juddering, needy bit of blues a bit like Clutch with the mother of all hangovers stumbling home; complex and progressive flourishes somehow both fracture the song and stick it back together in time for the simply awesome eight minutes that are ‘Lucky To Be Breathing’. This is just one huge showcase for the band. Emotionally expressive and varied vocals that culminate in a howl so tuneful it makes your heart cry with it. It has a steel hard pounding bass and drum engine that kicks the rhythm around like a trick footballer and guitars that riff around this with real gut wrenching touch. It’s like The Black League around the Doomsday EP rolling with the controlled chaos of early Mastodon. It’s stoner with the shit kicked out of it so hard it leaks sludge and its deep heavy blues bones glisten wetly beneath. Closer, the appropriately named ‘Uphill Struggle’ is an emotional rack, screaming against hope that things will work out; bluesy as Hell and as with all this EP you just feel your willpower collapsing and your head banging. There is a gorgeous, punk basic, open sound to Bad Boat that scrapes away any bullshit and leaves the wounds salt-stinging raw. Utterly fantastic 9/10.

Here’s hoping we hear more from this label too.

Gizmo

https://www.facebook.com/FreakFlagRecordings

http://www.myspace.com/badboat