Tongue In The Mind – Tongue In The Mind EP (PAN 140)

A halucinogenic composite of molten thrash and syrupy, disintegrated electronics, Tongue in the Mind’s provocative debut EP dissolves slowly, leaving a crystalline residue of pulverized words and intimate, literate musical references. The record embraces and untangles the trio’s distinctive personal narratives: Juliana Huxtable is an acclaimed multimedia artist, DJ-musician and writer, Jealous Orgasm a dextrous multi-instrumentalist and composer and Via App a versatile, lavishly experimental producer and DJ. Together they careen erraticaly between eccentricities and expressions, composing extravagant, free-flowing micro epics that don’t so much blur the boundaries between genres, but layer disparate sounds into cornucopian sharing platters spilling over with acid, grain and honey.

‘FREE SEX’ is a smoldering punk-metal riot set ablaze by tempered riffs and seething beatbox breaks; Huxtable’s vocals glide over top with cool, casual grace until the track sublimates into a vaporous techno fever dream. Toying with the ethos of Detroit’s screwiest, most speculative sci-fi experiments, it flaunts Tongue In The Mind’s creative philosophy in widescreen, muddying the gulf between punk rock and cybernetic electro. The trio drift from the main stage to the backroom on ‘PLASMATIC YEARNING (FOR THE HORIZON’S KISS GOODNIGHT)’, shoring up Huxtable’s eroticized dream-pop cries with cracked mirror guitar fragments and subwoofer-puncturing bass. Oceanic cave painting for beached lovers.

The band’s ambition is laid out prostrate on ‘KEY AND STRING’, a prog anomaly of chugging metal guitar riffs and downtempo spines until it spirals into a glazed pool of enigmatic wordplay and eerie electronics before snapping back into an electrified, symphonic union of the three at their most vivid. And ‘PRETTY CANARY’, a live staple that’s become the band’s de-facto signature, draws out their sonic doctrine in vivid, cartoonish colors, Huxtable’s acerbic sung-spoken musings are accented by tweezed Downtown distortions and skipping club beats.