This album starts off with the very grimy, greasy “Easy”. There’s almost a sense of Low-Fi to all of this, in a way that makes this track come off like some incredibly dark alter-ego of Guided By Voices, at least instrumentally. But the start of this one is the tension in every way. This one rolls along so smoothly, so slow, it just doesn’t care about anything in its path. It ends up building up a lot of quick tension that the band releases often here with some really great guitar breaks and an almost euphoric chorus. Now, no, this isn’t Deaf Wish at their most instantaneous or catchy. But man, this does a great job of bringing in a lot of the sounds of this album, and just brings you up to speed with the very classic sound of Deaf Wish. But “FFS” quickly brings a whole lot more of a raucous vibe in. We get this very sweaty riff that it so much wilder compared to the intro, and this one has Sarah Hardiman taking over lead vocal duties. And to be honest, there’s been times where I haven’t been as into some of her vocals. But here, she sounds much more aggressive and seemingly has so much personality here. It’s funny, this track is the polar opposite of the last track here, being so much more instantaneous and catchy. Now, one thing I do sort of wish that would carry over from time to time with Deaf Wish is the production. Deaf Wish finds themselves doing a little bit of a juggling act with the production, between more cleanly produced tracks and genuinely grungy tracks like “Metal Carnage”. I mean, outside of the production, this track is actually a real gem. I love how pummeling this is, with this one almost taking some cues from Hardcore. It’s aggressive as hell, but it’s also insanely catchy. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I heard Deaf Wish going for such a streamlined sound, and it’s good. On the other hand, “The Rat Is Back” has Deaf Wish once again putting on their “tension” hat. It’s a very slow paced, sinister song packed with surreal imagery, one that would have most Post Punk acts shaking in their boots. I just love some of the vocals here that are just so slippery and almost seductive, also while coming off truly dangerous. And outside of that, the production is just so hulking and massive, and these riffs just keep getting grimier by the minute. “The Rat Is Back” at the end of the day is just so simple, and practically comes off like a Bauhaus cover at times. But I love this track. Even that last 40 seconds of euphoric humming is just masterful.
Deaf Wish continues to scratch all the right itches with “Ox”. I love how genuinely hectic this one is, immediately there are just so many guitars attacking from all angles. But that’s not it, here we get a much more mani, intense spoken word vocal performance. It’s practically hypnotizing at times, I feel like even bands like Protomartyr would be able to learn from this. This track is easily one of the best of the bunch, it’s just so incredibly raw and in the moment. Please, Deaf Wish, more tracks like “Ox”. On the other hand, what the hell is even going on with “Hitachi Jackhammer”. I like the sort of campiness of this one, and just how much Deaf Wish seem to just let go and have some fun for a few minutes. But to me, this is actually a low point for the album. Like, I love the waves of very hazy guitars and the very animated vocals. But outside of that, this is just a toned down version of tracks like “Ox”. But Deaf Wish” fire back strong with this album’s title track “Lithium Zion”, which may just be the most straightforward Post Punk track of the album. This has such a cavernous and unhinged feeling as these very gloomy verses roll on. And yea, you can argue that a lot of this album is nothing new for these genres, and they often just sound like they’re covering some true legends. I wouldn’t say that though, as the band plays with enough energy to make it all sound fresh. Not to mention, the overall gloominess of this album continues to be fantastic. “Lithium Zion” may be an instrumental, but it’s pretty fantastic. On the other hand “Deep Blue Cheated” is just as unhinged but much more aggressive sounding immediately. I don’t know why, but I continue to get a sort of Sonic Youth flair from this, which I really can’t pinpoint. But I feel like this track has absolutely an old-school “Goo” feel to it. This is far from the most melodic track here, but it’s passionate and has just the right amount of gloomy vocals and intense verses. Not to mention, this is one of the longer tracks here, but Deaf Wish does well with keeping you interested. But I would actually say Sarah’s vocals here are the element that takes this to the next level. It comes in much later than usual, but when it does, it’s just so mysterious and oddly sexy, all while we get some of this album’s wildest vocals yet.
On the other hand, “Birthday” smooths things out into one of the catchier tracks here. And that’s very strange indeed because it’s still very aggressive and hazy. It’s almost dreamy in a way as literally everything about this track constantly hits you from all angles. And Sarah’s vocals continue to be so dangerous and oddly sexy. This track may be on the shorter side, but this band is holding it together wonderfully. But of all of the tracks here, “Afraid For You” is the least captivating. All of a sudden, I feel like Deaf Wish don’t care nearly as much for a Post Punk sound, and are literally going for a sort of gloomy Indie sound practically. And without all of that tension and aggression, this track is just so boring to sit through. The vocals on all sides just don’t sound nearly as into this as they should be I just don’t know how the quality here took this much of a nose dive. This album finishes up with “Smoke”, and once again I still feel like this reminds me so much of Sonic Youth. But trust me, it’s in the best way. I love the woozy, hazy guitars and the dangerous vocals all around. It’s just such a dark, winding track that’s full of twists and turns. And yea, this is by far the longest track here. But nothing is overblown, it’s just a truly dark and grimy finale that has my mouth watering for more Deaf Wish.
Rating: 8.3/10
Give A Listen To: “FFS”, “The Rat Is Back”, “Ox”, “Smoke”
Least Favorite Track: “Afraid of You”
Genre: Post-Punk
Overall Thoughts: Deaf Wish come into their own more than ever and offer up their sleekest and most dangerous sounding tracks to date. You can argue that half of the sounds on this album they’ve ripped from the playbooks of Sonic Youth and Bauhaus. But one thing you can’t dispute is just how great they make it sound. And between that, very updated production, grimy instrumentals and some very moody performances, this is a really great Post-Punk album.
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