Space Blood – Tactical Chunder (2017)

Two-piece loop fiasco Space Blood is as much a visual as an aural experience. Anyone who has seen the band will know that they have no inhibitions when it comes to their act. Covert plays in underpants. Edgin wears a crop top to garner some twisted sex appeal from his hairy gut. The band rip posters from the wall and eat them. Edgin dresses as a pig and is dry humped by Covert. Malort stains are everywhere. One must imagine this sort of bizarro performance when listening to Space Blood, which is just as strange as the music. In their latest effort Tactical Chunder, not only has the creativity of the band increased, there is a better synthesis between their sound and the unusual environment during their live act.

Let’s first appreciate the restrictions of looping. The success of any looped track depends on building a foundational melody upon which tracks are stacked. It’s important that this melody doesn’t grow stale as the track progresses, otherwise the tremendous effort is worth nothing. The melodies in tracks like ‘Scissor Rats’ and ‘Techno Shamanism’ bring all the power of bands like Cleft and Alpha Male Tea Party. But the band are not only bringing more catchy hooks in this record, but they are building and rebuilding multiple hooks in each track.

The sound quality here is equally noteworthy. The tones of Sam Edgin’s polyphonic octave bass are chunkier than ever, with tracks like ‘NSFW’ and ‘Unintentional Manscraping’ bearing all the brash of Shellac and McClusky. William Covert’s percussion is crisp and balances well with the strings, making the experience well-aligned with their live performances.

Overall, Tactical Chunder soars above and beyond Space Blood’s previous releases, and it best encapsulates their much loved and indubitably weird live setting. The chunder here is indeed tactical.