Texas Platters

Elvis

There's a mystique to Elvis. The local quintet has little in the way of Web presence and no liner notes accompany its proper debut, Heavily Decorated, but the band's cryptic allure befits its post-punk confrontationalism, a combination of Joy Division, the incessant dissonance of Suicide, and early Butthole Surfers. "Do you ever get the feeling that the drugs aren't working?" vocalist Hunter S. Brian calls out in "No Heel at Hell's Door" with a mix of raw terror and intrigue, a mood that permeates Heavily Decorated. From the No Wave buzzkill "Discho" and hard garage-psych of "Butthole Coaster" to the bleak "Who's Gonna Die First" and perverse "Double Yer Wardrobe," it's a dark trip for sure, reportedly recorded as part of a daylong bender. The drugs are clearly working.