Five years ago, Butthole Surfers drummer King Coffey and Shit & Shine frontman Craig Clouse teamed with bassist Matt Turner in Same Sac, a local avant-doom trio rattling jaws with double-barreled distorted bass. Short-lived, the group gave way to Coffey and Clouse spewing the same amniotic fluid in USA/Mexico, this time conjoining with Nate Cross of Marriage and When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. Debut Laredo wafts an acrid potpourri of experimental noise variations: garbage disposal sludge rock on “Possum Trot,” with Clouse’s menacing vocals tweaked beyond comprehension, and power electronics on the title cut. Thereafter, they touch on free-jazz (“Yard of the Month”) and static blast beats (“Windsor Park Hardcore”) before dragging the Fall’s “L.A.” and Bullets for Pussy’s eponymous single down to sonic hell. Laredo throws open the doors of creativity and smashes everything in sight.
This article appears in September 1 • 2017.