Boris: Heavy Rocks

Label: Sargent House

Oh man, Boris is just doing whatever it pleases these days. For one of its two new releases (see also: Attention Please), the Japanese trio-plus (Ghost's Michio Kurihara frequently pitches in) has even recycled an album title from 2002, and gone with similar artwork to boot. With those facts in mind you can view this Heavy Rocks as a state-of-Boris-union in 2001: much of the doom- and drone-rock they built a foundation on plus just about everything they've toyed with since. Punk and speed-metal forms are scattered throughout Heavy Rocks: "GALAXIANS" is a frenetic riff-saw tearing forward through everything in its path like toothpicks. The oddly titled "Leak - Truth, yesnoyesnoyes-" brews up a swaggering storm, accenting the pristine production that's also been a hallmark of Boris records for years. "Tu, la la" brings all that heft to a tune that bands like Ride or Lush would've been proud to have called their own, with waves of guitar noise underpinning twinned leads and heavenly harmonies. You can't stop Boris in 2011, you can only try to get with where they're at!