J.R.C.G. - Grim Iconic... (Sadistic Mantra) LP (colour vinyl)

Limited Loser edition first pressing colour vinyl.

Highly recommended. We have copies (colour and black) of their stunning debut. Like taking a long, late night drive...

Pacific Northwest group Dreamdecay paint noise rock in various shades of silver and rust. Set to the hypnotic heartbeat of krautrock and acid washed in psychedelia, the band’s albums—such as the viscerally stunning Yú—opt for a more multi-hued approach to abrasive rock music than simply remaining within a solitary lane of menace and disgust. (No shade whatsoever to those who’ve mastered that particular approach.) Yet the group’s timekeeper and vocalist, Justin R. Cruz Gallego, takes that mind-bending approach to its most extreme heights as J.R.C.G., exploring cinematic, polyrhythmic terrain that reflected the desertscapes of his Arizona origins as well as his most eclectic influences on debut album Ajo Sunshine. While the pummel and scrape of Dreamdecay isn’t absent from J.R.C.G., it’s a supporting player in a much more sprawling ecosystem of rhythm and sound.

Grim Iconic…(Sadistic Mantra) is J.R.C.G.’s first release through Sub Pop and an even more ambitious compilation of varied psychedelic threads. Where Ajo Sunshine felt something like a mixtape of sonic experiments juxtaposed against a half-dozen or so fleshed-out songs, Grim Iconic is a more cohesive statement—not a debut but a proper arrival.

As a drummer, Gallego frequently centers the rhythm in each song, whether taking inspiration from Talking Heads-style post-punk funk, the Latin music that soundtracked his youth or the motorik repetitions that ultimately tie some of the wildest moments on Grim Iconic…(Sadistic Mantra) back to Gallego’s urgent bashing with Dreamdecay.