Revved with fuzz-soaked guitars and an unrelenting sense of motion, Bending is the latest album from Laguna Beach-based artist Acid Smoothie, the project of multi-instrumentalist Paul Dunne. Written hot on the heels of his July full-length Faxing the Vatican, the album channels contagious energy into a sound built for both long drives and late-night restlessness. Its blend of post-rock introspection, garage-rock grit, and psych-laced distortion captures a restless creative streak.
“Bread” opens with a psych-rock introspection, infusing fuzzy guitars and lyrical vulnerabilities — admitting to lingering in the past, and trying to move on from those bleak memories. “Back to the drawing point I removed all of your paintings from the wall,” the vocals let out. “In attempts to get over everything I knew I’ve learned to fall face forward into self.” Blistering guitar distortion follows, as the vocals assume an angstier tone — conjuring a fun early ’90s alt-rock nostalgia.
The ensuing “Talon” plays as a nod to no-frills garage-rock and its heroes, intertwining fuzzed-out distortion and twangy psychedelics. Its imagery invokes a simultaneous reverence for the past, while still pushing for something new and forward-thinking: “cleaning decades out of boxes to make room / for memories I’ve yet to fill.” It’s another invigorating success on an album full of them.
The quality songwriting doesn’t let up from there. “Connected Nodes” traverses with chugging rock energy and “my hands are shaking, probably my fault” caffeinated insights, while the album’s title track finale plays an ambitious narrative — as brisk spoken-word pairs with whirring guitars, as a protagonist strives to make it night-by-night, day-by-day within a desert lifestyle ripe with dangers and the necessity to adapt as such. Bending is a riveting, charismatic rock triumph from Acid Smoothie.
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We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
