'Mind Spiders' Reviewed

• X-Ray Visions

  Deep in the fifth dimension, Mark Ryan's Mind Spiders are cutting demos with Buddy Holly

  BY AUDRA SCHROEDER

• 'Mind Spiders' Reviewed

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

Mind Spiders

Any punk band worth its weight in vinyl has its own theme song. The Mind Spiders' calling card on their Dirtnap debut makes a compelling introduction: four-track hiss radiates a sci-fi glow, with double-tracked drums and weirdo-ripping guitar hooks that stick like gum to hot cement. Mark Ryan, who handles most of the instrumentation, approximates a one-man supergroup guided by voices. That's fitting given his history with Denton staples Marked Men and High Tension Wires and explains Mind Spiders' grab-bag appeal. In fact, "Neurotic Gold" makes for a perfect tagline given the murky hoodoo Ryan spins here. For every two-minute scorcher giving Blood Visions of the late Jay Reatard ("No Romance," "No. 3," "Go!"), there's an equal or greater reaction: the outer limits lo-fi psych of "Your Soul," the doo-wop swoon of "Read Your Mind," and gothic "Slippin' and Slidin'," which sounds like a T. Rex demo with Jesus & Mary Chain levels of distortion. An oddly compelling record that demands repeat listening.