Indian Handcrafts - Creeps (2015)

'With only 2 members, they beef a sound as burly as stoner/sludge rockers Red Fang and Mastodon' Revolver. 'The last one was our 70s album, this is our 80s album,' jokes Indian Handcrafts drummer/vocalist Brandyn James Aikins. Although it's an offhand generalization, there's a good deal of accuracy to the jest. Whereas the Canadian duo's 2012 Sargent House debut Civil Disobedience for Losers was full of 70s style heavy groove within its drop-tuned riff-rollicking, Creeps has more sheen and steel. Or, while the previous album was more of a shag carpet lined party van, Creeps is a souped-up time-traveling Delorean. Throughout, Creeps pits elements of early Metallica's dingy denim thrash, Judas Priest s shiny leather turbo metal, Queens of the Stone Age's flannel-flying rock and even Creatures Of The Night-era KISS' glossy hard pop alongside the band's signature amalgam of futuristic alt-rock and a cross section of blistering punk-sludge hallucinations. The drum sounds are huge, the ridiculously incredible guitar tones will have guitar geeks geeking out for years to come. And, the dual vocals often compellingly sound as though they were simultaneously softly sung and violently screamed. The songs for Creeps came about quickly after the band had spent considerable time on tour, the two of them riding in a van er, time-traveling Delorean for hours on end. 'On tour you're listening to everything all the time, going from Celtic Frost to Faster Pussycat,' says guitarist/vocalist Daniel Brandon Allen. 'It tends to work its way into the writing.' For Creeps, the band once again teamed up with previous album engineer Toshi Kasai (Melvins, Tool). There the pair focused intently on distilling their ideas down to a 9-song, 44-minute can of whip ass labelled simply, Creeps.