Rangda is a supergroup, and I hate using that word, because usually it makes you think of Zwan, or Angels & Airwaves, or some other collective of popular but mediocre musicians that becomes somehow infinitely more amazing when you lock them all in a studio together. But the members of Rangda really are, well, super. You’ve got Richard Bishop, of Sun City Girls fame, shreddin’ it up on guitar. Then there’s Ben Chasny, the mastermind of Six Organs of Admittance and a member of Current 93, also shreddin’ it up on guitar. And to combat the double-guitar whammy, there’s Chris Corsano, legendary improvisational drummer and collaborator with everyone from Thurston Moore to Björk. Together, these three guys play some of the most sophisticated, crunchy psych-rock to be heard by human ears. “Majnun,” a cut off the band’s upcoming sophomore LP, Formerly Extinct, starts out innocently enough with a stop-and-go beat; at the halfway point, however, things get absolutely crazy and explode in a cacophony of noise before switching back again. I don’t know about you, but I’d take this over Asia any day.
Formerly Extinct is available September 18 on Drag City.
• Rangda: http://www.dragcity.com/artists/rangda
• Drag City: http://www.dragcity.com
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