Deaf Wish – Lithium Zion

Description

Few groups today embody the ethos of deafening amplifiers, crusty drums and a beer-battered PA like Melbourne’s aptly-named Deaf Wish. They’re more likely to ask a fellow musician what they do for their “real” job (for one, guitarist Jensen Tjhung works as a builder) than talk shop about publicists, ticket counts and online promotions. If this grisly rock group comes to your town, you would be wise to clear your calendar. Lithium Zion is their fifth full-length album (and second for Sub Pop following 2015’s Pain), and, while it’s a rare case that a group’s fifth album is their best, it may in fact be Deaf Wish’s finest. Their previous albums were recorded in makeshift studios – a wise choice for capturing the hazardous riffing, chemically-stained vocals and fiery rhythms conjured by a group such as this – but this step toward a slightly more professional sound only enhances their power. Lithium Zion is a veritable buffet of garage-punk energy, post-punk pathos, sardonic wit and the fearlessness that comes with Aussie rock, a natural consequence for anyone living on a continent teeming with grapefruit-sized spiders and man-eating mosquito swarms.