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Xanthan: Succubus Swing

Here is a do it yourself release from Texas trio Xanthan titled Succubus Swing. And no, this is not the food thickening agent. As far as the band is concerned, well, this is a much more difficult question. In the band are Boz Miller (drums), Max Miller (guitar), and Corin Gatwood (6-string basses and vocals).

The cover art and album title had me intrigued. For those who don’t know, a succubus is a female demon, and a swing is, well, a swing. Use your imagination to gain further insight.

There are six tracks totalling about twenty-two minutes of music so consider this an EP. This is a heavy album, it is certainly progressive, some funkiness in the heavy grooves, very rhythmic with some great band interplay. The album opening “HYBYC” is heavy on the funky bass and drum groove, very much Primus-like with squelching lead guitar and off kilter, inventive riffs. Heavy riffs and guitar fills give “1934” a solid rock foundation and in “Colliskeions: 23” the band’s creativity explodes with varying tempos, frenetic band interplay, and mellower guitar lines. “Bump of Excellence” is my favourite track with its moody sustained guitar, trippy breakdown, and is much more refined than the previous tracks. Ending the disc is “In Killeen”, a drum heavy tune with distorted vocals and fine guitar work.

Xanthan have an experimental edge, and when they can refine the edges a bit more as with “Bump of Excellence”, their music gets that much more intriguing. Really, the ingredients are there for a top-notch album. I would love to hear what they do on a full-length release.

Track Listing:
1. HYBYC (2:54)
2. 1934 (2:32)
3. Colliskeions: 23 (5:07)
4. Bump of Excellence (5:55)
5. Mrs. Haan (1:29)
6. In Killeen (4:01)

Added: January 24th 2023
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 611
Language: english

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