A lot of damage in very little time: Raleigh trio Rocket Cottage plows through four tracks in about six minutes on this debut, spilling thick wads of scuzz over grooves so thin they emphasize the bulk of what's overhead. The appropriately named opener, "Churning," empties viscous feedback over an introductory cymbal crash, and Rocket Cottage wrestles with the brittle tone for the next 80 seconds. With a linear riff synced to a cowbell and a bass splash too mean to be rubbery, they barely control it. All along, frontman Russ De Sena articulates his words with a primal sort of D. Boon pout, like a toddler whose toys have been incinerated. Drummer Nick Speaks adds more cowbell to "Soul Music II," a blip of a punk song where every part—whirring guitar, plowing bass, hyperventilating vocals—comes bent at an irregular angle.
But it's parting shot "For the Urinals" that cakes best: A circular wash of cymbals and tom fills cycle beneath a slow, bass-led build, portending, it would seem, stoner metal aspirations. Suddenly, though, there's silence, and the bass focuses itself into an elegant melody, an acid-wash guitar ebbing above and below it. DeSena now sounds patient, letting his feelings ferment, then unleashing them in quick bursts. For most of this dirty little EP, Rocket Cottage razes just fine; here, though, they show they're able to build it back, too.
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