NORTHERN LIBERTIES – Glowing Brain Garden
First thing I noticed about Glowing Brain Garden was the elaborate artwork that is featured pretty much everywhere on the record. It also includes a couple inserts that also display the same type of sprawling images. Have to appreciate the type of effort that went into putting this together, a completely self-funded venture it would appear and one that is obviously a labor of love. As for Northern Liberties and their music, they actually kind of mimic what you see covering every inch of this release. At least in terms of imagery, as lyricist Justin Duerr takes a rather psychedelic/fantasy turn with the themes for this. The music itself ends up falling into a much noisier/abrasive area, but one that likely lands smack dab in between say…Karp and Lightning Bolt, kind of drawing elements from both styles I’d imagine but never really committing to either completely. Multiple listens has found me enjoying it more, and while the old bass and drums setup is a plentiful one they do well here in a adding a bit to it instead of merely taking up space. Despite this being their 5th record, from what I understand, this is the first time I’ve had the pleasure of hearing them. Busy individuals it would appear; probably will have two more releases out by the time I get this one on the site. Kidding, give it a listen.