Space Tequila – Sarcastic Psychosis

Space Tequila – Sarcastic Psychosis – Album Review

Well, the name certainly checks out.

Dig the mindset behind the music too – “it’s not supposed to sound squeaky clean pretty and perfect.”  That gets a big ol’ FUCK YEAH from me!  People been polishing their music so much it takes the damn passion right out of it, and I’m pretty damn sick of that myself.  I appreciate the professionalism to a degree of course, but at the same time, we wanna hear where the blood, sweat and tears were shed.

Anyhow.  These are just some random thoughts I had about what I was looking at when I was first started to dig into Space Tequila, before I had even pushed play.  I’ve pushed play now – plenty of times over the course of this past week or so…and it’s high time I reported my findings to you good people.

The sonic chaos they present at the very start of “Fast One” immediately got me interested.  They use tones and spastic movements like you’d find in a band like Hella, but with the kind of approach you’d find in something way more like the music in King Missile.  I’m cool with either of those comparisons.  Hella’s a lot more math-rock based and tends to be viciously precise, and I don’t get the sense that Space Tequila is looking to be that…like, at all – but on a tonal level, they’re exploring similar terrain.  The indie swag they bring to their whole vibe really reminds me of King Missile though, and you can find music by those guys in a wild variety of ways from fully focused tunes, to cuts that were held together with string and duct tape.  Ultimately, I’m objective about which ones tend to hold up over time and I know full well which tend to eventually find their way to the bottoms of playlists and such, but hey, for a couple spins, I’m pretty much up for anything all of the time.  Dig the vocals in this band, that’s an asset – and I’m tellin’ ya, there are some genuinely kickass things happening in the guitar realm here too.  It’s all loose AF, and there’s no doubt that some of the timing issues will grate on most people listening, myself included really.  I don’t mind shit not being totally polished of course, but there’s a massive gap between what that is, and timing issues that can often go as far as to bring this band to a halt for a moment so they can reset and push forward again throughout this record.  That’s a bit problematic, and a potential barrier that could prove to be an extremely tough obstacle to overcome.  “Fast One” is dirty & grunged up enough to spark my interest & get my attention though, so that’s positive…at least for me.

As you slide into “Go For A Ride,” Space Tequila proudly continues their decent into madness.  I don’t think they have any major illusions or misconceptions about how listening to Sarcastic Psychosis plays very much like listening to your neighbor bangin’ it out in the garage with his band – this is demo tape type-stuff, but again, very real in that respect.  You won’t find a track like “Go For A Ride” in any of the AI Slop out there, and in my personal opinion, listening to a cut like this will always be a million times better than listening to any of that crap based on what I’ve heard from it so far.  Still, it’s equally fair to acknowledge that the rough and raw ain’t always what folks are lookin’ to listen to, but I think it’s just as fair to point out that Space Tequila directly TOLD YOU what you were in-store for, so if you still clicked play, that’s on YOU.  I really do think they’ve got some solid ideas in what they do with their guitars and vocals in this band, and hell yeah, I’m still engaged with this record.  There ARE things I’d want..but it’s not really fair to judge something by what it’s missing rather than what it actually has, objectively speaking.  Suffice it to say, “Go For A Ride” and the album at-large represent the early work of a band that still has plenty of room to grow into what they’re doing, without having to compromise too much in the long run if they still wanna play it as chaotically as they clearly prefer to.  There are obviously major tweaks the could make, but they could go with minor ones as well that would keep their vibe intact and not have them having to change everything from top to bottom just in order to please the masses.

Like, I would absolutely go see Space Tequila play LIVE – this is the kind of stuff I love to see from the stage.  Truthfully, it fits a little better in that respect too, because we all expect a little quirkiness and things to go a bit sideways here and there when we’re at a concert.  Maybe that’s just me, but that’s what I’m secretly always hoping for, because if it just sounded like what you’d hear in a recording, what would the point even be in going to a show, you know what I mean?  I live for meaty riffs and guitar tones like you’ll hear in “Get Close,” and lord knows that bands like Mudhoney and all the underground bands from Seattle that didn’t get signed to Geffen Records basically ALL sounded similar to what Space Tequila is doing and I listened to just about all of that quite happily.  I dunno – LISTEN to a spot like around the 3:30 mark on “Get Close” and tell me you don’t feel that!  That shit sounds cool to me, and if they ever chose to really dial in on their ideas and make them tighter than they currently are, I feel like they’ve shown us plenty of valid material to work with.  They remind me a bit of the band Floating Faces here in Vancouver, BC – which is another band that absolutely loves to fuck things right up beyond repair, and another band that I’ve seen grind themselves to a complete halt too at points – it happens.  It comes with the chaos, but they own it.  I feel like Space Tequila owns it too.  So embrace the chaos, or find another band to listen to y’all…it’s pretty damn simple.  “Get Close” also has that dangerous feeling to it…maybe dangerous isn’t the right word I’m looking for…mischevious…that’s the one.  A track like this also borders on the edge of psychedelic sound too, similar to what I liked in the band Dandelion.

“#13” is track number four, hopefully that helps clear up any confusion.  What – you thought that Space Tequila had a monopoly on sarcasm?  Think again…and don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years.  By this point in the record, technically the halfway point…I’m kind of half in & half out.  Like, I get where they’re coming from in how they want to approach making music, and I’d even argue that there IS in fact, a more robust audience out there than most people would think for tunes like these…BUT…I also have to consider the fact that Space Tequila isn’t just competing with the music being made right now, but the entire HISTORY of music when it comes to what people have access to and will listen to.  In that respect, I think it’s gonna be a tough ask for some to part with their precious ear time.  That being said, again, it sounds like Space Tequila has already made peace with that and made their decision to go forth and conquer in their own way, whatever the outcome may be.  “#13” is probably the single if I’m being honest with ya…if an album like this was to have one anyway.  The bass lines at the start are wildly catchy, and then there’s like…fuck, I don’t even know how they’re doing what they’re doing with the guitar and the feedback that’s comin’ from it, but it sounds badass to me.  Vocally, the band never really deviates too much from the direct and straightforward Punk-style of sound…it happens to work for me, but I’d totally understand if people felt like it was a bit on the one-note side of things.  I’ll say this though – everything you’re hearing on this album sounds like the band is having fun, and that’s gotta count for something too right?  I dig the breakdown in this song…”#13” is able to flex its varied sound in a way that shines a bit of light on where they could go in the future, and it’s more accessible without throwing away the live-wire vibe they create & the frenzied sound that they seem to be relentlessly addicted to.

They’ve got the intensity and heaviness part locked down, that’s for sure.  “Razors Edge” is probably a good example of how the band is quite capable of getting absorbed by the hurricane of chaos they create, which can often force them to get to a point where a small break in the music is required so they can quickly reset and get back to it.  Structure?  We don’t need no stinkin’ structure!  The framework of a track like “Razors Edge” practically only exists so that they can acknowledge it briefly, and then quickly continue coloring as far outside of the lines as they possibly can.  I’ll be real with ya…music like you’ll hear in Space Tequila is pretty much the exact reason that 99% of people don’t understand how I can do what I do for a living.  I’m cool with that…I’ve always been cool with that.  I’d way rather find something like Space Tequila that’s wallowing in the dirt of the underground scene than something that is thriving at the top of the Pop charts – that’s just who I am.  They get pretty damn heavy with “Razors Edge,” and it’s a suit that they wear pretty damn well if you ask me.  Again, they bend things in a psychedelically tinged direction, but it feels like a hybrid combination that could work well for them in the long run.  As it stands, I mean, there’s not a whole lot on this record that couldn’t be tightened up to give it a better chance of being listened to, and “Razors Edge” is certainly included in that assessment.  They sure give this one the business with the finale at the ending & the drums all poundin’ away & shit…but overall, I think that “Razors Edge” actually reveals a bit more depth and dimension to their sound, and I dig that.

“Tone Deaf” is a great name for a song in this band’s catalog, because I’m sure they’ve likely gotten that comment from a person or two that just doesn’t get what they do.  It’s actually pretty damn ironic to a degree if that’s the case too, because there’s actually no issue at all with Space Tequila being “Tone Deaf.”  Chaotic, surely.  Confusing, more than half the time to most I’m sure.  But “Tone Deaf?”  Hell no!  In fact, I’d probably be among the first to tell you that it’s a lot of the tones and frequencies that they use that kept me coming back for another listen – there’s some genuinely exciting stuff goin’ on in that regard throughout this whole record.  Admittedly, they’re lookin’ to sludge it up and actively push some folks away with what they do…and maybe that’ll be something they tinker with going forward to form more of a middle ground between them & their potential audience in some way in the future.  Like, take the spot around the three minute mark in “Tone Deaf” – that’s a major hook that most Alt-Rock bands would be stoked to find, and they’d build an entire song around it.  For Space Tequila, it’s just another moment in time.  I’m genuinely impressed by the consistency they’ve got on the mic.  I get that it’s not going to be the main draw for many listeners out there, and I get that it’s not like the dude’s even making a legitimate attempt to really sing, at least in the traditional sense – BUT…I dunno…there’s something about the personality you’ll find on the mic that seems to keep bringing me back to listen to Space Tequila for another spin.  I mean, the dude never sounds bad – maybe that’s the best way to put it.  So like, while it’s not like he’s gonna bust out a memorable melody you can sing along with, ever, he still has this undeniably entertaining allure, and really does seem like a perfect fit for the sound they are creating.  Another highlight breakdown in this track…everything between like, 3:15-3:35 is what I look forward to each time that “Tone Deaf” comes back around in rotation as I play Sarcastic Psychosis.

If there’s one thing you totally expect to find on a record like this, it’s remixes (see previously mentioned comments on sarcasm above).  No joke though, you’ll find two of them at the end of this album, though whether or not that makes what they do any more palatable to the average everyday listener…I suspect it will not.  “Don’t Matter Anymore (Remix)” is a decent example of the band trying to define the edges of their music and structure a bit more clearly, I think?  I don’t know that it ended up making too much of a difference if I’m being honest with ya, but again, I’d tell you they’ve got some pretty savage & cool ideas buried underneath their chaotic sound, at least at points.  I think that’s perhaps the main issue – not only is Space Tequila not the kind of verse-chorus-verse band most people typically latch onto, but the material itself still needs to find a way to bond itself together more than the concept of all-chaos at all times.  Ultimately, whether it’s intended or not, they probably have more in common with Punk than they do with Grunge or Alt-Rock or Metal…but they’ve got the roots of something that could work here.  A track like “Don’t Matter Anymore (Remix)” reminds me of the punishing force you’d find a band like Protomartyr playing with, which is a band that also carries that similar deadpan vocal delivery style too.  Spots like around the 2:30 mark and the sporadic stuff that follows feels like you’re practically right there in the room with the band (a dingy, dank-ass room, mind you) listening to them figure things out before they come roaring back into more familiar terrain like they just remembered they were all playing a song together after zoning out & completely forgetting each other was there moments before.

I do appreciate the irony of a track like “RocknRoll (Remix)” at the end, which is pretty much a middle finger up directly pointed at those that thought they might compromise the sound they’re going for.  So ultimately, they give you this like…bizarrely more accessible cut in some ways, that does almost conform to the kind of patterns and movements we’d expect on a structural level, but still filtered through the madness and mayhem that Space Tequila brings to every song they play.  They had me worried at the start of this final tune, that much I can confirm.  I’ve liked so many of the different things that they’ve done with the guitars that the opening of “RocknRoll (Remix)” felt like a savage step backwards into a riff that most folks would happily leave behind…but they recover from that soon enough, even if they circle back to it later on with more distortion and intensity behind it.  I’ll say this – “RocknRoll (Remix)” is a tough tune to throw your weight behind, as a player in the band or even as a critic outside of it – I feel like just about every other cut on the record speaks more strongly on their behalf than this last cut did.  What the fuck do I know though?  I’m just another asshole on the internet with an opinion, and believe me when I tell ya, there are plenty of us out there.  So many of us in fact, that we’re usually just an echo chamber for our own bullshit over the course of time.  Maybe you’ll feel the same way about Space Tequila as I do and give’em a shot…or maybe you won’t…I can’t help but feel like both the band and I will still find our way to sleep at night exactly like we did the day before regardless of what anyone thinks.  Like I said – the record is likely more challenging to the ears than most people are looking for in the music they listen to, but you can bet your sweet ass I’d be there in the front row if Space Tequila ever made their way from Colorado to Vancouver – this band is much more suited for the stage overall.

Find out more about Space Tequila from their page at the Gram:  https://www.instagram.com/spacetequila1

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