Neung Phak – “2” – [Abduction]

Thurston Hunger   2/1/2012   12-inch, A Library

Patiently letting the buzz simmer down from the 2005
lead single, “Fucking USA”, the Phak pack is back
and as beautiful as ever. Cloned from pieces of
Mono Pause bones, Molam wool, Thai wolf whistles,
Vietnamese Khene scenesters, Korean rhythm n’ bbq,
haw-haw guitar (the inversion of wah-wah?), cassettes
from libraries and gas stations. Go-go boots made in
the US and shipped to Cambodia, Neung Phak should
be our leading export. Insourcing the joy of
exported rock, and scraping off the English lyrics
and American bull-heartedness. The first two tracks
give global dance fans the business, including a
Sublime vocalization pollinization from an Alvarius
Beeeee on “Bang Toyib”. Horns a plenty, synths even
more. Nevermind the lipsynch, Diana Hayes soul-synchs
her moments in the microphone spotlight, but when the band
scales art-rock heights like on “Sa-Ha” with its
jumpstart tweaking and “Nong Maew Pee (Ghost of
Cat Woman)” which is something more than felines,
it’s straight Fucking A as opposed to USA. The
album closes with “Sad Chatri” built for Southern
Thai dynasties, but connected to Kraut-psych rock
by the talened minds and musicians here. Again
Neung Phak hovers above the top shelf!

-Thurston Hunger