Call Me called us into the Dead Zone
By: Anand Harsh
In my defense, not a ton of bass music acts have been producing challenging, industrial, experimental songs during the pandemic. So many heavy bass artist have retreated to calmer waters to wait out the soundsystem-free landscape.
But John Hargens ran headlong into the flames. Santa Cruz's Call Me, known for collabs with Shlump and his wildly experimental sounds reminiscent of NastyNasty or Bleep Bloop, produced a brutal three-track EP for those adventurous types among us.
Dead Zone, which came out last week, is a truly terrifying ride across scorched earth synths and grinding, melting gears. Each track possesses a tenacity and intensity that bears in on the listener with malignant rage. But it's a controlled rage—it's not cacophony for the sake of being angsty. This is meticulously crafted slimepunk that energizes. It's an antidote to all the downtempo we've been ingesting that reminds us what it feels like to get out there and headbang a little.
