NYCs White Hills are one of those bands that never settles into one musical trip. Sure, their DNA is psych rock with a healthy dose of post/punk, Krautrock, and no wave thrown in for good measure. But the duo, led by guitarist/vocalist Dave W and bassist/vocalist Ego Sensation, are pulling from 50 years of an ever-evolving rock and roll landscape. There’s probably as much Hawkwind and NEU! as there is Suicide, Bauhaus, and Siouxie Sioux.
Throw in a little ‘Creature Feature’ for good measure and you’re close to understanding this amazing rock duo.
My entry point with White Hills was their excellent 2011 album H-p1. Listening to that exquisite slab of psych-meets-komische-meets-cosmic horror was revelatory to me. There was something truly freeing in hearing these two build such a expansive musical world in motorik beats, guitar drones, and acid-fried fuzz. It’s still one of my favorite albums in the last decade or so.
From there I was grabbing everything I could, as well as new albums. I was hearing two artists/creatives following the muse to whatever far corners of fringe rock and roll it would take them, and I was mesmerized every time. Albums like H-p1, Heads On Fire, Glitter Glamour Atrocity, and Walks For Motorists exemplify the vast and expansive musical world White Hills covers. In the band’s 20+ years blowing and expanding minds each record was a force of nature.
On August 23rd White Hills returns with Beyond This Fiction, a brand new long player which follows 2020s Splintered Metal Sky, as well as 2022s expanded reissue of Heads On Fire titled The Revenge of Heads on Fire. Beyond This Fiction sees Dave W and Ego Sensation in fine form, and lead single “Killing Crimson” is proof of that.
“Killing Crimson” is all fuzz guitars, belted vocals, and a wall of acid-fried glamour. There’s touches of My Bloody Valentine in Ego’s power drill bass line, while Dave W’s vocals sound sinister as ever, like some voice from beyond warning of a future dystopia. Ego’s vocals give it all an almost sinister glam vibe. It’s an absolute blast of a track, and shows that after two decades there’s no letting up from these NYC psych masters.
Check out “Killing Crimson” below, then head over the White Hills’ Bandcamp page and preorder ‘Beyond This Fiction’ in cloudy sea blue vinyl, CD, or digital. Whatever flavor you prefer.
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