Acid King Busse Woods (Man's Ruin)
SXSW Records
Reviewed by David Lynch, Fri., March 3, 2000
Acid King
Busse Woods (Man's Ruin)
Show of hands, who loves Satan? Ricky Kasso does. As the protagonist of the odd fictional book Say You Love Satan, Kesso is the inspiration for the San Francisco-based dungeon droners Acid King. The trio-currently-a-duo, founded by vox/guitarist Lori S along with drummer Joey Osbourne, appropriate the name of Chicagoland nature preserve Busse Woods for their first full-length name, which evokes the deepest forest in your disturbed subconscious, where dark spirits outnumber happy ones like gamblers outnumber priests in Vegas. "Silent Circle" features spaced-out Jane's Addiction echo vocals, while on "Drive Fast, Take Chances," S's visceral guitar locks together with the bass to create a Hades tidal wave of subterranean sound for eight and a half minutes. The pentagram instructive "Carve the 5" lumbers like Frankenstein after ingesting a handful of horse Quaaludes. Too bad all these songs, even the instrumental cover of Jesus Christ Superstar's "39 Lashes," wallow in the same syrupy, monotonous cadence. If you didn't take extra bong hits before Busse Woods, you'll feel like you did anyway. As such, Busse Woods may not be very inventive, but it sure is dark and heavy. (Saturday, Mar 18, Emo's Jr., midnight)
