The road to self-emancipation will take many forms. In the case of KC Toimil and Autumn Casey, it’s the pummeling sounds of their noise-rock brainbaby Snakehole. The Philadelphia/Miami duo’s new single, “Bum Song,” comes from an LP, entitled Interludes Of Insanity (Out March 24 on Wharf Cat Records), and it’s an inescapable force of tonal and rhythmic fury. A heavy haze of fuzz sets a scene of unease, a brooding cloud threatening your perhaps-up-until-now bright day. The opening frenzy of guitar is so fast and sudden it’s as though a beehive has been thrown at your chest and you’re left to deal with the ensuing agitation of the swarm. The beefed up tone, sludgy and thick and obscure, covers the bees in their own honey, but it doesn’t slow them down. if you were to follow the alternation of the chords with your head, you’d suffer the worst bout of whiplash you’ve ever had in your life, as the drums, equally heavy and equally ferocious, pounds you to mush. The whole thing is a door being smashed down, a mouth full of teeth being kicked in, a rabid stampeded of animals that don’t even exist yet. And you’re forced to sit with it. The song cuts but the duo’s not finished with you, as unnerving, yet not unpleasant feedback finished it off and carries it to oblivion.
