Downwire

A new band featuring Bobby Jamison and AJ Hathaway — who used to be in the ferocious and fiery Tarmints and the final incarnation of Twice Wilted — Downwire released this debut album as a recording project. The dirty, brooding guitar over the top of expressive yet heavy tribal drumming...

By Tom Murphy

February 2, 2011

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A new band featuring Bobby Jamison and AJ Hathaway — who used to be in the ferocious and fiery Tarmints and the final incarnation of Twice Wilted — Downwire released this debut album as a recording project. The dirty, brooding guitar over the top of expressive yet heavy tribal drumming is reminiscent of Swans' later output and sometimes of Ask Questions Later-era Cop Shoot Cop — that, or what might have resulted if, instead of joining Ministry, the Barker brothers and Bill Rieflin had continued to move the Blackouts in an even more experimental direction. "Down Down And Away" soars with a thrilling menace, and "Arch Indigo" swims through a pool of luminescent static with irresistible force. This is the sonic equivalent of dangerous cybernetic creatures let loose on an unsuspecting public.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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Twitter: @simianthinker