In the wake of the international protests against racist police brutality sparked by the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, Athens’ most cerebral instrumental rockers Inoculous (made up of guitarist and lead songwriter Demetri Wolfe and drummer Jake Evans) will self-release an EP of collected live performances entitled We Out Here to benefit the work of Black Lives Matter Global Network.
The EP includes three tracks from the band’s performance at WLCI College Community Radio (“Alligator,” “Red Sand,” and “Space Monkey”) and one from their episode of WOUB Public Media’s Live From Radio A (“Entropy”).
Animated by Wolfe’s inventive guitar work and grounded by Evan’s rhythmic percussion, We Out Here begins with “Space Monkey,” a fitful polyphonous declaration, building and releasing a relentless rhythmic tension over the course of two minutes and 53 seconds of power. Next are the serpentine stylings of “Alligator,” a song made especially kinetic by the warm, live recording crafted on Hocking College’s campus. Wolfe’s ability to fluctuate seamlessly from polychromatic complexity to dynamic simplicity is showcased on “Red Sand,” all the while anchored by the stops-and-starts of Evans’ percussion. EP closer “Entropy” is a spiraling sonic lesson in the commanding elegance of decay, bringing to mind at once Charlie Parker and Steve Reich.
Inoculous, like many other acts, had numerous live appearances planned for this spring and early summer, but many of them have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis. You can keep tabs on Inoculous at
facebook.com/Inoculous and
inoculous.bandcamp.com.
-Emily Votaw