Two Ton Boa (Kill Rock Stars)

Two Ton Boa

(Kill Rock Stars)

"My heart is floating in a seasick bag of meat" is a pretty frightening way of saying "Welcome to my world," but for Two Ton Boa, that first line of the first song is as good an establishing point as any, especially for a sound that's driven as much by the sinister vocals of Sherry Fraser as by the two bass guitars locked in cobra-and-mongoose sparring. On the eponymous opening song, Fraser is nearly a dead ringer for Rid of Me-era PJ Harvey, with an array of the darker emotions directly lifted to the vocal surface. At other times, she's reminiscent of Siouxsie Sioux, with careful articulations and operatic splashiness. Arty? Yes, absolutely. Pretentious? Thankfully, no. Despite the occasional appearance of a glockenspiel (which would doom lesser bands), Two Ton Boa is as heavy, deliberate, and constrictive as their name suggests. At five songs, it's just a taste of a very capable band bringing a goth aesthetic into a more bludgeoning and relentless framework than goths typically aspire to. While not exactly subtle, Two Ton Boa is blunt and unapologetic in their approach, making their ornamentations more of the leering gargoyle variety than mere frills. (Hole In The Wall, Friday, 11pm)