Apparently it’s been over three years since Axis: Sova’s awesome “Past the Edge” seven-inch? Time is nuts. I was expecting that same kind of pummeling robosludge from their latest album, Motor Earth, but there’s something else happening here, something incrementally different and only marginally less powerful. The tools are the same—drum machine, Brett Sova’s guitar, healthy doses of overdrive—but the Suicide chug of “Past the Edge” is reduced, which in turn lessens the menace and mystery that shrouded that single.
Sova has different aims with Motor Earth. It’s still thick with distortion and reps a generally chaotic vibe, but this is a less threatening take on bluesy psych rock. It’s a less monolithic sound, less a dense, unilateral sheet of bludgeoning riffs than a series of clearly sketched out songs with distinct guitar parts that complement each other. You can actually suss out what’s happening here, despite the grimy veneer. The drum machine still keeps a steady robotic beat, and Sova and second guitarist Tim Kaiser ably trade interlocking riffs and manic solos, and it’s all thumbs up and high fives for fans of unhinged rock ‘n’ roll. Imagine Raw Power by way of Neu!, or “Past the Edge” with its martial doom and gloom replaced with occasional Royal Trux-style lassitude. Motor Earth is Chrome-plated Purling Hisstrionics for rock fans and pun haters alike.
When an artist tries to clarify their focus or rethink the roughest edges of their earlier work, they run the risk of erasing what made them notable in the first place. That doesn’t quite happen with Motor Earth—this is a profoundly competent noise-rock blast for any and all heads—but a new kind of anonymity is creeping in at the margins. If I didn’t know this was Axis:Sova, I wouldn’t immediately be able to tell if a song came on the radio, a technology that does in fact still exist. And although you can’t fault growth and development that’s both successful and organic, there remains a very small, very slight sense of loss when one thinks back to the band’s previous heights. Now that I’ve acknowledged that one minor misgiving, I can return to listening to Motor Earth on repeat.