Lighting Bolt - Sonic Citadel (Album Review)

 

Lightning Bolt - Sonic Citadel

(2019)


My copy: 2019 limited press on magenta vinyl by Thrill Jockey.


Seemingly taking fan responses to Fantasy Empire to heart, Lightning Bolt reimagine their new era of higher production by painting over ever-vicious instrumentals with brighter colors via 2019’s Sonic Citadel - and while this record does inject healthy creativity, it does not by any means compromise on ferocity. Sonic Citadel is a record that will have you desperately googling synonyms for “explosive” given the duo’s reinforced recording prowess. There are still moments where the band’s early experiments feel like long lost echoes, but the insanity is cranked to such heights that it nearly doesn’t matter. 

Apart from the impressive auditory phalanx of booming tom drums on “Blow To The Head,” the A-side is relatively underwhelming compared to some of the more elaborate tracks that await. “USA Is A Psycho” sees the bass drum gaited and swung, with the snare cementing itself in time as Brian Gibson’s bass sputters through scales - it’s fairly run of the mill for them until the vocals peak with distortion, carrying over into the dynamic noise-rock powerhouse “Air Conditioning.” Serving as the first single, “Air Conditioning” engages in some misdirection as Brian Chippendale takes his time building anticipation in the drums, only indulging in pure chaos fragments at a time. 

The cutely titled “Husker Don’t” tricks you with its lax (for Lightning Bolt) grimey punk bass lines, oozing and spacing out around occasionally flaring riffs before launching a brutal descent into musical hell as the landscape of the song is slowly transformed by stacking effects and distorted screams into an unimaginably raucous jam session. “Big Banger” is like a demonic dance party with the bass alternating between oddly effective dubstep “Wahs” and more traditional noise pummeling. Chippendale’s vocals are sometimes stretched into silly snippets of melody, or sometimes shouted with aggression, but they are almost always incomprehensible, adding a strangely psychedelic element amidst such rabid instrumental performances. 

“Halloween 3” introduces one such silly vocal melody before Gibson warps the music into something that would feel at home on an evil carnival ride. There are moments of reverberating reflection injected throughout “Halloween 3,” before the bass goes off-road with colorful solos. The spirit of their original works lives through these unexpected moments of levity - as is the case with “Don Henley In The Park,” which is uncannily serene for the duo’s usual style. Psychosis is still prevalent even here, as Chippendale shakes up the sliding bass melodies with a spontaneous eruption, causing the two instruments to shift tempo and realign with hazy samples. “Tom Thump” is sort of a standard tom drum assault with an edge of danceability. 

The contrasting chugging and lighthearted riffing of “Bouncy House” further demonstrates that their sense of humor only works because of their impressive technical skills and songwriting abilities. “All Insane” eases on the tempo a bit, driving forward to perhaps serve as a bit of a break before the schizophrenic masterpiece of “Van Halen 2049”; a track that is so indomitably thick and cacophonous that it would probably make for a more effective burglar alarm than most typical products on the market. Chippendale must have been foaming at the mouth while recording the mad fills of this wild finale, as Gibson paints both broad and elaborate strokes of musical chaos - eventually working in a sort of chugged blues-punk riff that attempts to keep things anchored. This final endeavor is one of their most detailed shows of force yet, and reaffirms that Lightning Bolt have only lost it in a good way.

So while Sonic Citadel only truly reinvents the wheel a couple of times, the record’s sheer magnitude and impressive production make it worthy to test the constitution of your ear drums. If you fire this album up, you must listen loud, and even if it isn’t a totally new take on the band’s sound, it will get your blood pumping.

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