Tussle: Telescopic Mind

Tussle, Telescopic Mind Smalltown Supersound, 2006. Born out of the San Francisco art scene, Tussle is one of those bands you find out about because everyone seems to know about them except you… Not in a snobby way, because while there is a certain amount of pretense in some of it, the bottom line with these guys is that they rock. These guys blur the line between garage jam band and minimal dance outfit, with a touch of John Cage thrown in for effect.

Did I mention they have two drummers? That’s right. TWO. Their music is extremely simple, while keeping it’s own unique qualities: you generally have a bassline repeated, a sample or electronic something or other, and the pounding, driving, booty-shaking beat.

Well, sort of. The album has a sort of schizophrenia to it. You could call it “stylistic evolution,” or you could call it something else, but there are a number of tracks, half the album in fact, that consist of random electronic noodling. Think Aphex Twin, minus the genius. So I’m left feeling very conflicted… When the band is doing their thing, I feel it one hundred percent. The perfect driving music (that or early Led Zep) .When they’re just fucking around, try to sound artsy, I just skip the track. So for a full album purchase, you get a great EP of songs. But they’re long, for what it’s worth.