‘Pre-Pangea’ comes galloping in on frenetic guitar strums that evoke the hooves of the horsemen of the apocalypse. It’s pure raw raucousness oozing from the melted flesh caused by the very first chord and this bubbling primordial energy continues throughout its entirety.
This sound is one that very few bands can tap into properly, it’s this heady, dizzy, giddiness that comes from the whirlwind of instrumentation all coming together in a sonorous whirlwind. It’s sonic overload. It’s non-stop climax. It leaves you feeling dehydrated your skin tingling from the pure fucking buzz of it. It conjures up black magic memories of listening to bands like The Horrors or A Place To Bury Strangers for the first time and just getting lost in the soundscape.
Lyrically it oozes effortless cool, playing around with abstract language and themes to paint the picture of the fractured holes left by love or the concept of a soul mate. The vocal delivery is visceral and crackling with the same shocking energy as the rest of the track, the shouting chorus of voices on called back lines is a really nice touch adding a level of cult to the world of the song.
It’s such a truly gargantuan sound, it towers over the listener as it looms out of the speaker. Every second of track time delivers a different nuance to each and every instrument featured. It explores itself and in doing so evolves continually to become this untouchable, unknowable, unsurpassable, mystery.
If there is a band that I want to soundtrack the end of the world Picnic Lightning is it. It’s tapped into the creative chaos of creation and channelled it into this timeless masterpiece. This may sound like overhyped nonsense, but this track is honestly a beautiful beast and you need to ride it into the sunset with us.
Go and treat yourself to a listen of the full album.
Words by Matt Miles
