Vinyl Review: "Ruins I & IV" by Junkpile Jimmy

Welcome to the show that's surprisingly been renewed yet again.

In the past, I'd talked about when a band sought me out and sent me a CD, but nowadays, I don't listen to CDs anymore, and more often than not I will turn them down.

But, Junkpile Jimmy of Crazytown, CA has again asked to send me a vinyl copy of his album for my review.

There is no more humbling experience and exaltation of what I do here with Glacially Musical than an artist, label, PR, etc sending me a copy of their record on vinyl.

Any time one is sent to me, I'm eternally grateful. My hope against hope is that I receive 2 per month. If I could do 24 vinyl reviews per year, I'd be eternally thrilled.

Here we are in 2020, and this is number four. Only 20 more to go right?

Now, the reason why we are here today is a bit on the strange side, but  no stranger than a man, who's not me, playing death metal via slide guitar.

Ruins I & IV is finally getting a CD release. So, to commemorate this, I'm doing a vinyl review. Look, this makes about as much sense to me as it does to you.

But, for the record..PUN INTENDED...well read to the end ok?

This is another album that's taking some time to fully digest. The fact that this is happening on the regular in 2020  disproves what a fellow said to me on the internet today. He said, there's no new music.

Everything that can be done has been done and every single artist sounds just like another artist.

I shouldn't leave out that he's not purchased or listened to a new album, per his admission, in many years. So.... Yeah.

Now, as you can see, I'm plainly stalling.

When doing the interview with Jimmy himself, there was a question about branding because Wants You Dead was an album that was recorded many, many years ago. The "current" record, was released a bit before, but written well after.

These two records couldn't be more different if that was the goal.

Ruins I & IV has a bit less of the reckless abandon of Wants You Dead. That's just another way of saying that on its face these songs make more sense and are far less to confuse you.

But, about that, that other record was wholly insane. Like truly gone fishing crazy. It was basically a Monty Python sketch come to life had the troupe a time machine and knew that Death Metal was even a thing....

The follow up sits some where between heavy blues and sludge metal. It's probably most accurate to say that this album is sludge metal blues core. So, if you're looking for an artist who can create subgenres without even trying...

Junkpile Jimmy probably is going to give us 3 or 4 more before he's done.

It's a driving, dirty record that not only features the slide guitar, but a very capable bass guitarist playing underneath.

The vocals sound somewhere in the vicinity of Syd Barret after being on shrooms to come down off of his peyote high.

It would be most appropriate to say that listeners shouldn't get comfortable, because when you feel like you've found the thread, the whole band changes it up.

I'm not just saying that because the dirty blues I'd been enjoying for the past 10 minute went into a grindcore passage.

Because I am.

This is the kind of record that's going to save the world.

Out Now Bandcamp