Nashville’s freakiest foursome Faux Ferocious unleashes some thrilling 'New Sounds'

Nashville’s freakiest foursome Faux Ferocious has some New Sounds in store, a fresh 5 track EP of high-tension southern fried garage psych executed with krautrock precision that rips like an ‘87 Monte Carlo SS unleased on the blistering Autobahn tarmac. New Sounds a white-knuckle ride that challenges the mind as much as it stirs the soul, brimming with creeping existential dread as it hurtles forward with an unstoppable mechanical momentum.

Despite the title of the EP, New Sounds doesn't stray too far from Faux Ferocious’ established territory, but when a band is this deep into the pocket does it even matter? Delivering release after release so consistently tight is an achievement in and of itself, and Faux Ferocious leverages their musical mastery as a springboard for the kind of postmodern think-pieces set to impossibly monumental jams that have become their unmistakable trademark.

Kicking off with the singularly numericity of “i,” New Sounds’ opening salvo is a colossal psychedelic soundscape just shy of 6 minutes, the first of two such compositions that sets the scene for the EP’s more traditional arrangements. Motorik rhythms and spaced out riffs juxtapose in an obtuse union to form a solid foundation for the band to incorporate elements of hot chicken country slathered with sauerkraut on “Internet,” hard driving straight ahead greasemonkey rock with “Motor City,” and deep dive bar doldrums on EP closer, “Rock Bottom” - shifting with the smoothly oiled movement of a four-on-the-floor gearbox. There’s just enough variety across the tracklist to spice up the Faux Ferocious formula without rocking the boat - playing it straight while easily delivering on the band’s sonic promise.

Conceptually, New Sounds builds on the notion of the modern man adrift in a sea of superficiality, longing for greater meaning by succumbing to the all-powerful “algorithm” or escaping the monotonous grind of daily life for a thrilling turn behind the wheel as a semi-legal circuit track superstar. These idle musings feel at first like simple lazy daydreams, escapist fantasies conjured in a moment of disassociation. But give it enough time and these seemingly hollow meditations begin to increase in substantiality, minor moments accumulating into an avalanche of emotions barreling toward psychological rock bottom. Life inevitably hits these types of rough patches, but Faux Ferocious never surrenders to the bleakness, instead finding solace in the camaraderie of friends, commiserating over a cold one in a ritual group therapy session for similarly affected restless souls with the understanding that the power to transmute dreams into reality is within us all, so long as we have the will to make it so.

Stream New Sounds on Spotify and follow Faux Ferocious on Instagram.