Smack the Brick

NNA076: Guerilla Toss "Smack The Brick" It’s widely known that mosh funk in the 21st century is best done zonked and fried by Boston natives Guerilla Toss. There’s no doubt these kids are some of the hardest working acid causalities in all four corners of the underground, with shout outs and respect given by legendary rippers such as Henry Rollins and John Zorn. And they aren’t stopping anytime soon. With their latest release, “Smack The Brick”, Guerilla Toss continues to navigate through the realms of brutal groove, psychotic arrangements, and complete lack of ethical harmony. Perhaps the addition of two new members, Toby Aronson and Pat Keuhn, have allowed the band to evolve in a newer and fresher direction – less prog and thrash – more funk and fury. The title track ‘Smack The Brick’ might sound like a lost cut from Talking Heads’ “Remain in Light” if it had grown up worshiping the devil in 90’s west coast hip-hop culture, while other tracks such as ‘Billy Blood Idol’ take non-western rhythms and manhandle them through a rusty cheese grater. But beneath the mask of irony, meta post teenage angst, and clouds of smoke, lies five educated and well-rounded individuals who have found a way to make the mundanity of technical virtuosity into something fun, accessible, challenging, and deep. Let “Smack The Brick” be the soundtrack to your next ayahuasca ceremony, and as you confront your demons, you may or may not make sense of what these psychonauts are trying to achieve.