After a five-year wait, Urinal Cake Records’ own Terrible Twos have released their second full-length album titled Horror Vacui.
Between album releases, the band has seen personnel adjustments, released several singles and replaced multiple tour vans. Their synth-based punk signature has elevated to a matured-version of a now neo-classic Detroit sound: Horror Vacui.
The 13-track, 30 minute album features high-tech punk melodies and thrashing rhythms in a recording of organized musical savagery. Terrible Twos demonstrate their ability to fill every space of musical canvas with their appropriately-titled, fast-paced new release.
“Goggles,” the LP’s first track, begins with a pounding rock riff straight out of Detroit. The bass, drums and guitar lull together in a downward spiral until the third notable cymbal rest. As the melody subsides, a headbanging mini-anthem of self-protection erupts as vocals shout:
“I’m trying to be good! I’m trying to go home! Protection is what I need! Goggles!”
The album’s fourth track, “I Have to Go to the Bathroom,” is a frenzied whirlwind of sophisticated timing. A series of vocal call-and-answer responses play the leading role as the staccato melody is hammered by snares and unadulterated guitar-twang. At only 1:30, the song is the shortest of the collection, but one of the most fervent.
Horror Vacui is a journey of non-stop, splatter punk energy, stripped-down instrumentation and screeching, Stooges-like vocal accompaniments. Terrible Twos show their unwillingness to slow down, settle down or turn down within this organic, must-have Detroit punk record.
Horror Vacui is available on iTunes, limited edition 12″ vinyl LP (first 50 copies on “splattery, puke-colored vinyl”) and stream via Urinal Cake Records’ “pee stream.”