Fuzzkill Records is a name gaining a lot of kudos in the Scottish music just now, centred around a lo-fi sound, much of the music released by the label has a distinct DIY feel to it.
Released for Cassette Store Day the creatively named Now That’s What I Call Music 666 gives listeners a sense of what the label is about, showcasing some of the best raw Scottish talent around as well as a few from further afield.
Opening with noisy, well-acclaimed two-piece Pinact, the label don’t show any signs of easing us in to what their roster about, indeed a reverb-soaked garage punk sound provides the main base of this compilation, but there are a number of styles on show; from the surf-rock of New Swears through Min Diesel’s Pablo Honey era Radiohead sounding ‘Bastards’.
From 16 bands there a few standouts, including Poor Things’ ‘Unsure Of Myself’, which could be mistaken easily mistaken for Pixies, adopting their quiet/loud/quiet idea, while having a memorable chorus section.
A straight-to-cassette release may not be very conventional, albeit quite the norm for Fuzzkill, but with this release selling out within a month it is clear the label are doing more right than simply putting together an excellent roster of artists.
Words: Neil Hayton
Rave Child 