In between chasing fairies in the enchanted forest and scaring passersby at the neighborhood playground, it does one well to find something, a hobby, to pass the time. Some folks enjoy knitting, the occasional physical exercise, even the delicate art of baking. For Toronto psych rock quartet, Hot Garbage, releasing an album or two does just fine to fill the void between adventures.
Precious Dreams, Hot Garbage's second full-length LP, landed on streaming Friday, January 19; a hallucinogenic time-slip of a record that calls to mind the wondrous fluidity of The Gun Club steeped and saturated in a heavy-duty Hendrix music video. The album is nightmarish in an almost cartoonish way, at times choosing to poke fun at psych metal tropes that think themselves too seriously, yet it never skips the chance to wallow in it's undeniably unsettling array of fuzz and muff. Precious Dreams makes me want to dance as hard as I can until my knees fall off my legs, especially during songs like "Snooze You Loose," the album's intro track; the unforgiving drum line and overwhelmingly powerful bass guitar could convince even the most mentally stable of us that his fingers were bleeding and only a groove and a mean two-step could stop it.
This is an album for day trippers and noise rock enthusiasts alike. It is a record generationally wealthy in originality and ambiguity, worth its weight in gold for every listen. We caught up with bassist and vocalist, Juliana Carlevaris on release day to chat all things Precious Dreams, festival circuits, and playing in a band with your older brother. Check out the interview below!
Rob Lucchesi
Hot Garbage