The Roller

Multimedia specialists Monofonus Press focus on pairing unique audio and print material for each of its artists. Hence, the debut album from Austin’s sludge slingers the Roller is accompanied by a CD-sized book, Captioning for the Blind, by author Rebecca Bengal. Like listening to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon while watching The Wizard of Oz, both pieces of media complement and highlight each other. The slowly building, Chingalera-like "Zugunruhe” sets the scene for Captioning’s main characters James and Arlene to skip town with their dog Sonny before main throat Mike Morowitz lets loose his punishing Iron Monkey gargle. Ed Davis’s bass epically crawls into the Grief-ish "Under the Beneath,” while Theron Rhoten’s guitar wails in an Acid King tenor. The initial sluggishness of "Spirit of the Sun” reflects Arlene’s view of Death’s presence among them, and the (old) Cathedral-inspired "Rattle of the Shaman” climaxes as Sonny finally confronts the story’s antagonist. The Roller offer Weedeater-style sludge with psychedelia to spare, while Bengal’s book provides visual stimuli and a backdrop upon which to paint the band’s foreboding portrait.