I like guitars. You might perhaps see that as something of an occupational hazard but it remains a fact that I like guitars and loud guitars at that. Voodoo Mind Control have loud guitars but there is more to this indie band from dear old Glasgow than bending the proverbial E String and turning the volume up to a tube smoking eleven.
For a start, and unlike so many of their co-located contemporaries, Voodoo Mind Control don’t top out at three chords and four or five guesses at their girlfriend’s name. Rather there is purpose here and their “January” EP is more than capable of moving you swiftly towards the table reserved for the convinced.
“End Times” could, if one were to be heartless, be mistaken for just another song high on volume and low on originality were it not for the hyphenated voice of Helen Farrow-Thoms providing spirited counterpoint to the always clear and present fretboard abuse. “Nomad”, on the other hand is altogether more laconic in approach and, indeed, ironic in demeanour. Variety, like cumin, is the spice of life.
“Glacier” is a solid, almost muscular, song that suggests an underlying need to mix up manly riffs with that always popular psychedelic groove and that’s not an unusual approach these days. However, there is always joy to be found in getting the silver machine out and flying it around the planet a couple of times with the rather more successful, if rambling, “Kaleidoscopic” washed ashore by waves of reverb and copious quantities of funny tasting herbal tea. Relentless and merciless in their swagger, Voodoo Mind Control use this song to kick sand in your face. It’s their beach and they are happy to prove their ownership.
There’s nothing the matter with Glasgow town, or so the song goes, but one day soon it will be under Voodoo Mind Control.