Of all the corners of the states I’ve been in, I can’t claim to have been to the real Midwest. Every impression from these real Midwesterners is that Ohio is part of that fake Midwest. I don’t quite know what that means, maybe it’s the bad barbeque here. Witch Jail’s mere existence makes me think it’s actually the music. I mean, we have our fair share of jangley punk bands but few that approach the free wheeling occult acoustics of Witch Jail. “Weirdo” would be a pretty damn tame way of talking about these Missouri folks and their latest, MUSIC FOR MAGIC MOMENTS / SPELLCASTERS ANONYMOUS! I’ve been listening to this tape at the highest possible (healthy) volume, with an overwhelming urge to duck down and avoid the bar stool getting flung at me from the other side of a candlelit altar. What better way to initiate your ritual than with some guitar wailing with a deck of tarot cards for a pick?
Is this the real Midwest? Gunked up guitar riffing, black cat screeching vocals, generously slathered with distressed, sour-licked psychedelic fuzz? Hell if I know, I’m only in fake Ohio. If there’s one takeway I’ve got from Witch Jail though, is that Kansas City sure sounds like the locus of some wild-ass, Midwest madness. Consider this a very welcome conjuring.
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