Male Gaze – “Gale Maze” – [Castle Face Records]

Thurston Hunger   5/6/2015   A Library, CD

Rising from the smoking effect boxes of Blasted Canyons,
Mayyors and The Mall comes Male Gaze. Seven barbed
blisters of rock bliss. Scale the “Cliffs of Madness”
whipped along by drummer Adam Cimino, or hold on for
dear life on the launch of closing title track. Rushes
of adrenaline, I’ve still got trace elements of Cimino’s
cymbals and snare in my bloodstream. The band loves to
fly the fury and then stop for a heartbeat before diving
back in. All the time kicking some echoplex ass through the
plexiglass past. Great music for driving to in general.
Played at the proper volume, it should alleviate traffic
blockage on the streets o’ San Francisco where the band
holes up. “Mr. Wrong” has the right twist of discord and
the stumbling lyrics on the chorus, mild Wedding Present
regifting vibe, which is cool. Matt Jones voice is pretty
elastic, at times sounding like a hubba bubba southern fried
scion of Elvis, or a Bunnyman, or even a refugee from Arthur
Brown’s world? Maybe they will summon some Ziggily Diggily
Stardust and call the next album “Glam Glaze.” Rock on!
-Thurston Hunger