USA/Mexico

The first five seconds of "Anxious Whitey" ring with reedy feedback that tricks the ear into thinking Slim Harpo is about to proclaim that it's "Still Rainin' in My Heart." The remaining 1,023 seconds muck out transcendental sludge that marries the repetitive meditations of Lungfish with the blown-out edges of Ramleh. At 557 seconds, roughly halfway through the epic album closer, the Austin noise rock trio dials the BPM down from a crawl to a deep slumber, popping the hard blues kernel into a locked groove that creeps toward bonehead magical oblivion. Escalation through repetition works. Butthole Surfers drummer King Coffey grinds a drone daze with simple machine purpose, his stiff and thin patterns paving an expanse for guitarist Craig Clouse and bassist Nate Cross to roll out asphalt chop. The string-benders' synchronized strum can't prevent the crosstalk of frequency demons buzzing between big chords. Thus, Matamoros – the trio's follow-up to equally fuzzy, blissful debut Laredo – maxes out headroom while maintaining a stubborn motorik thump. Even when they conjure the ghost of Nineties noise during an extended séance of Cherubs' "Shoofly," with vocals provided by none other than the fellow locals' Kevin Whitley, USA/Mexico conforms it to their standard of shambolic minimalism and linear mayhem.