Kal Marks

Whoa.  Talk about the beauty of strong, raw, build-and-release rock; the kind that drills into your head and doesn't offer any points of escape.  When it comes to tension instilled in a fuzzy psychedelic landscape, the Boston trio of Kal Marks know exactly what they're doing. Their newest EP, Piss of the Century, was released on July 19th to the beat of heavily distorted guitars, clamorous drumming, and confident songwriting. When listening to it, I can't help but feel like it's a statement, and it's hard not to when edgy guitar rhythms are piercing through the middle of the song.  This is just a focal point though, it's impossible not be engulfed in the syrupy sludge that surrounds a majority of the tracks.  In this sense, it's important to note that Piss of the Century is wonderfully complex, taking the listener through a series of different motions all in the same song.  This goes back to the idea of build-and-release, where certain sections speed up and slow down, become loud and then soft again, all at the stop of a dime.  And then there is "Born Again", the most sedated ballad on the whole thing, which is a simmering strum tune that offers a nice chance to breathe before "Piss of the Century" starts up the raucous again.  If you're in for the journey, you can access it on Bandcamp, and if you want to keep up to date you can do so on their homepage.  In the meantime, "My Guitar" and "Born Again" are available for stream below.