FREE SHIPPING ANYWHERE IN AUSTRALIA

What happens when you take a band
operating within the imposing, steel-grey
confines of Chicago and ship 'em out to the
sunny beaches of southern California to
make a record? You get Blinded By Oblivion!
Axis: Sova have crystallized on every level
with their latest, dropping a total classic in
the process-a perfectly conceived album

of head-catching tunes in proliferation, pro-
duced to transmit polarities to our synapses

with every song. Scintillating polarities! It
ain't Axis: Sova without a creeping sense
of inalienable oppositions at work-this
time, the brutal truths lie beneath flags of
conquest flying in the electric wind, the
introspection extroverted to explore human
condition, intention, and manipulation in the
modern world.
Blinded By Oblivion zeroes in with zero
fucks on these Axis concerns, excited by
sounds sourced from high water moments
in the rock and roll eras: present, past and
future. At times ferocious and slavering, at
others, gleamingly diamond-cut, the clash
of industrial steel vs. indelible nature is
sonically palpable. You get it all, right out
the gate: in the bright opening moments
of "People," Blinded By Oblivion's first
cut, an induction of dreamy guitar textures
from all corners set up the immortal opening
couplet, "People will be the end of people

/ People will snuff the light." Dark humor
never sounded so bright! From there, the
accelerated, percussive thrust that begins
"Hardcore Maps" launches a sequence of
quick-hitting singles, each demonstrating a
melodic attunement previously only touched
upon in the Axis-verse.

A constant point of Axis: is their commit-
ment to mutation and evolution. On each new

LP, a slew of heady musical inputs inform a
harrowing and insistent lyric POV lit up by

allegories of social estrangement and per-
sonality crisis. While earlier releases Motor

Earth and Early Surf dwelt in subterranean

corridors mottled with lo-fi and psyched-
out sonics, 2018's Shampoo You sharpened

their song-craft and fidelity, pushing vocal
arrangements forward. Blinded By Oblivion
accelerates this conception to new heights,
thanks in part to the bold, hi-fi production
courtesy of Ty Segall, who helped bring the
band's latest vision to life at his Harmonizer
Studios.
That vision became hyper-focused with
the sweet addition of (human) drummer Josh
Johannpeter to the Axis: fold. Combined
with new drum machines, the rhythms found
on Blinded By Oblivion are split in sensual
arrangement between organic and synthetic
beats on every song. This stereo divergence
opens space for Jeremy Freeze's buoyantly

grounded bass and Brett Sova's guitar

adventures to tap the source with unprece-
dented contrast and brevity, while providing

bedrock for their refreshingly assured vocals
to gloriously harmonize.
Making for an undeniably good/bad time,
streamlined and more reflexibly physical
than previously known, Blinded By Oblivion
begs the universe to bring back rock and

roll radio. All the elements are there: com-
passion for our collective fallibility, rebuke

on the tip of the tongue, all rolled tight with
hook-laden, high-energy construction. 'Bout
halfway through Blinded By Oblivion, we
hear Sova say, "I think my heart is made of
metal." Yuuuup. But we'd argue there's at
least a ventricle or two made of post punk!
And with vena cavae split between psych
and southern boogie. And cardiac veins of
glam, power pop, and punk. Sometimes the
heart is simply filled with sweet melody-so
man, the beats of this metallic muscle are
insane! Don't try this at home-just play it
at home. And in public. Wherever! And LOUD.