At the corner of art-rock, garage punk, and proto-metal, Protovulcan sit comfortable in their unique and inventive sound. We at Everything Is Noise are proud to present to you the new album stream of Life is Twigs!
Life is Twigs is as interesting as it is intricate. With the combination of keys, vocoder vocals, and out-of-this-world guitar and drums patterns, this album is unlike anything I have ever heard. There is an absurd amount of variety throughout this album that gives it life and depth. “Pine for You” and “Noise Lawyer” quickly became my favorites. “Noise Lawyer” brings back memories of the late-70s sound with its staccato guitar licks and funky drum beat. It is a fun song that makes you groove along with it.
You can listen to their new album Life is Twigs right here!
Protovulcan talk about the album and how they got their unique sound with sound engineer Steve Albini:
‘We wanted the whole thing to be raw, emotional, alive – the way it comes out when we play it. So we essentially recorded it live to a twotrack mix, with no second chances. …We recorded it with Steve Albini – we love Shellac, Big Black, Jesus Lizard, so much other stuff he’s been involved with – and he has such a brilliant ear. You can hear him changing the mix like another live instrument in some songs. When setting up the drums, he lamethrowered the drum heads with a blow torch, and said something like ‘It gets dents out, they sound great – and makes them last longer. It’s an old roadie trick – but they douse them in lighter fluid.”
The band explain how their new album got its particular name. I have a feeling I may even start using the phrase for myself. ‘It got that name,’ explains frontman Will MacLean, ‘in part because both [drummer] Deric and I had a number of life things happen, and I’d thrown at him the idea of recording with Steve Albini, for fun. He was afraid it’d cost too much, then one day texted me, ‘Fuck. Let’s do it! Life is twigs.’ Which sounded about right.’
