Iowa

There are guitar bands, then there are guitar bands. You know, the type of band that simply revel in a hint of a dirty edge to their psychedelia, one that is always searching for the perfect hook to layer an extra swirling guitar track over.

One that possesses a latently menacing, swirling J Mascis-channelling rough crunch, who perhaps nod at the mention of Swervedriver and Guided By Voices. The type whose amps might be turned up pretty loud.

That type of band is Iowa.

That means swathes of swirling, fuzzed-out guitars (via guitarist/vocalist Dylan Stewart), arm-hair shaking bass (Jordan Barczak) and drums (Matt Rooney) that make coherent thought at least kinda tough. Their sound straddles a line between the psychedelic rock of their forebears, but always with an eye and ear towards sonic terrorists like Mogwai.

Following ‘Complete Control’, Panic Attack is the second single from Iowa’s debut album (recorded as raw as possible in a frenetic two-day period at Headgap Studios and set for release in April) ‘Panic Attack’ is all that’s captivating about this Melbourne band.

Stewart’s taut voice, the initial punchy-building-into-an-almighty-guitar-squall before settling into a bruising, charging attack from the Barczak/Rooney rhythm section, all serving to come together as a heady piece of throat-grabbing fuzzed-out hi-fi lo-fi rock.

It is, as its name suggests, not something you’ll nod off to; this is frenetic rock tightly
constrained, wound up to breaking point. And when it finally let’s loose, you’re ecstatic to let it wash over you.

Panic Attack is available to download from iTunes & Bandcamp on February 20th 2012