Psychic Ills

Brooklyn’s Psychic Ills, who’s earlier 2006 release, Dins, is arguably one of the best albums of the year, show off their earlier pressings with the release of Early Violence. A compilation of material from two previous releases, Mental Violence I and II, it has all the shapes and sounds of this year’s release, but in a more primal, experimental and more interesting form. The album opens with "Vice,” sounding much like the band’s more recent stuff: drone-y, feedback-laden guitar and sparse vocals. "Killer” experiments with some less conventional keyboards, which bookend the track overlaid with a classic drum machine. The optimistically titled "Highway of Death” is a quiet number with gently echoing vocals that create an atmosphere that is embellished by little more than extremely simplified riffs. Throughout, the vocals are sparse and this helps to cultivate and propel their emerging sound into a realisation.