High Rise II – High Rise – Album Review

High Rise II – High Rise – Album Review – by Joshua Reedy.

High Rise – High Rise II

(1986)

My copy: 2018 reissue by Black Editions.

Following the aptly titled Psychedelic Speed Freaks for which they were once named, Japanese psych/hard-rock band High Rise doubled down on their maniacal, unyielding sound with this 30-minute EP released in 1986. While their indulgent solo-ing occasionally runs the music ragged, the burning tones of the guitars help distinguish their jamming from less interesting contemporaries.

At barely under a minute, “Cycle Goddess” releases an introductory howl of lo-fi guitars that bound and hunt through swiftly-collapsing drum fills. “Turn You Cry” adds reverb-touched vocals on top of the blazing, wacked-out guitar – building a bridge between noise-rock and psych. There are melodic hooks here, but all is quickly overwhelmed by nervous breakdown guitar solos that crack apart the garage-rock verses. Fuzz-driven bass takes the lead on “Cotton Top” where heavy sheets of guitar attempt to wrangle control from the desperate pummeling of the rhythm section. High Rise predicts the wild, crying solos of later alternative shredders from several pockets (Dinosaur Jr. comes to mind).

The rapid, resonant grooves of “Last Rights” are interrupted by sudden dynamic lurches in the rhythm, with the crackling production ensuring everything bleeds together nicely like a desert mirage. Single “Wipe Out” eases in (by their standards) before tempered guitar solos lash out like streams of lightning branching across a plain. Their grand finale is the 13-minute “Pop Sicle,” which relies on the repetition of their most palpable riff yet. Seemingly channeling fellow Japanese psych-rockers Les Rallizes Denudes, they loop a core motif that gradually builds up speed as the guitar shrieks and pops, leading them into a furious conclusion.

High Rise II is impressive for pushing forward a style that feels highly improvisational and yet punishingly calculated. The distorted tones and use of wah effects save them from feeling like just another jam band, and their chops save them from feeling like just another experimental band.

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