So far (to this writer's knowledge, at least), an even dozen songs have surfaced, with a sound varying from hardcore that decays as you listen to Chrome-gone-ambient/slow core. That said, there's BOY HOWDY a lot of variety and invention to be found here, and if we're to believe these boys' own words, then a lot of the non-hardcore shit is improvised. While consistently sounding like they're stuck in a blender set on "MANGLE", and despite the off-hand nature of these recordings, they manage a range of atmosphere that conveys much while still substantially sounding like soup (but each hiss and snarl is unique, godmotherfuckingdammit). Aside from some random demos and compilation tracks, four of the songs released thus far come from the 7" MEAT EP on Richie Records, which is half hardcore-style froth, the other half is miniature distortion-soaked collage terror. Three more songs came out on the one-sided GOLEM 12" on Night People (also released on CD and Cassette via Skrot Up), which were reissued as the Golem Smoke EP with the exceptional addition of the 17-minute "Golems Sympathetic Nervous System" as its b-side on Fan Death last year.
While I'm drawn to a lot of music that mirrors the sludgier end of this spectrum, what is really unique about FNU Ronnies is their ability to switch aesthetic on a dime--from slimy synth sludge to guitar splatter--but always in the weirdest places. Who knows if this approach will hold up over a full-length? Really, how could it not? So far, Golem Smoke is an album-length document that holds up well when compared with more seasoned now-defunct noisemakers such as Yellow Swans or the local Clockcleaner. It's also a refinement of those bands' own somewhat single-minded approaches, trading in distorted shouting for phased creepy moans, and saving the drum destroying for the short tunes, using longer tunes to engage in more spacious sense-obliteration. While the EP showcases more sprawled-out arrangements than the 7”, half of the tracks are still somewhat claustrophobic in their lack of cohesion (not that this is a bad thing, mind you). The opening “Watchful Eye” starts out with heavily-delayed ping-ponging drum machine, then blossoms into a Brainbombs-type creeper after a minute and a half of burbling gibbering, and the side one closer “Herb Alpert” screeches with feedback like a dialup modem (think Throbbing Gristle’s “I.B.M.”), while going just enough places to come off as more than just a throwaway doodle—but if not that then what, exactly? Then there are the other two tracks: the lumbering “Golem Smoke”, which sounds like Flipper played through speakers made of rusty lint, and the closing “Golems Sympathetic Nervous System”, which chops and regurgitates little bits of side A, among other detritus, resulting in a suite of crackling, shuddering massacre.
Their sound ends up being parts industrial, punk, surf, noise, psychedelic, and yet somehow amounting to something beyond that, as if all the diversity manages to culminate in fullness-beyond-genre, something previously aimed for by bands such as Sun City Girls. However, while the Girls used exotic textures to conjure images of pan-ethnic, yet non-generic World music, FNU Ronnies paint with a palette closer to home, managing a nationwide pan-extremism. No matter what they’re playing, it’s hard to imagine they’ve invested much thought into the slaughter of perceived sacred cows, more likely they’re just cranking up to 10 and having fun throwing around creepy distortion bombs. So far they’re getting a lot of mileage out of the resulting carnage. Check out their Golem Smoke tape on Fan Death, it’s only $4, and who doesn’t want to be decapitated?
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