The Shits return with ‘Diet of Worms‘, a record that sounds like you’re being joyfully steamrolled by a heavy-duty industrial harvester. Released through Rocket Recordings, this album brings that “disgust and deliverance” that they do oh so well, trading in the kind of grime that makes you want to take a shower and then immediately jump back into the mud. It is a gloriously noisy, psychedelic bad trip that manages to feel like a primal scream captured on wax, proving that the Leeds-via-Newcastle outfit has perfected the art of making sonic hostility feel like a genuine party.
The track “Then You’re Dead” is a standout moment of pure, unadulterated musical blunt-force trauma, built around a garage-rock riff so filthy it probably requires a tetanus shot just to listen to. It hammers away with a single-minded intensity that would be exhausting if it weren’t so hypnotic, creating a “bleary miasma” that feels like the best possible version of a 3:00 AM stagger home. Meanwhile, “Change My Ways” offers a “Creedence-in-Hell swagger”, blending abjection with an unexpected lurch of joy. It’s the kind of song that takes the listener by the collar and drags them through a nightmarish landscape, yet somehow makes the whole ordeal feel like an absolute riot.
‘Diet of Worms‘ is a rare achievement: an album that embraces the overwhelming and collective murder of the universe, as Werner Herzog might put it, and turns it into something beautiful and indivisible. It is even more remorseless than their debut, ‘You’re A Mess‘, demanding full immersion from anyone brave enough to drop the needle. For those who like their rock music boiled down to its most acidic, primal essence, ‘Diet Of Worms‘ is a feast of acidic salvation that shouldn’t be missed, even if it leaves your ears ringing and your spirit slightly debased.
Links of interest:
https://www.instagram.com/theshits.rock/
https://rocketrecordings.com/products/diet-of-worms
https://theshitsrock.bandcamp.com/album/diet-of-worms