If “the self-indulgent joy of stupidly loud amplifiers and feedback” is a sequence of words that gets your motor running, then Yoke might be your new favourite band.
That introductory quote are the words of Yoke’s guitarist Daniel Foggin (who also records cosmic, hypnotic psychedelic rock under the name Smote), who joined by his brother Tommy Foggin on vocals and drums and Mark Brown (also from Smote) on bass to form this magnificent power trio. And here we have their debut album which is released on 20 October – a five-song, 35-minute S/T LP that absolutely rips.
Watch the John O'Carroll video for 'Working Person', the first track to be revealed from the album above
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Yoke's self titled debut album is ltd to 200 copies and can only be preordered via the Bandcamp link below or bought from the band's merch table at one of their up-and-coming shows – each copy comes with a hand numbered A4 insert:
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From the deceptively slowburn intro of torture-toned opener ‘Coil’ to the Neanderthal-rhythmed blowout of parting shot ‘Me-Time’, Yoke is a melted mass of metal, punk, noise and psych whose musical ethos strips things down as much as possible but whose result befouls all the oxygen in the room.
Yoke is assuredly a different beast from Smote, but there’s a common thread in the proverbial power of the riff and bludgeoning repetition. Pulling out Stooges-like mean acid vibes, rhythm's you can groove to and at their most uptempo, the band lock into full psychedelic speed freak mode.
This is one album to scorch your ears to if you’ve thrilled with anything with stupidly loud amplifiers and feedback front and centre.
Experience Yoke's feral-noise live at one of these shows:
26 October / London / Moor Beer Vaults (supporting Bonnacons Of Doom)
05 Nov / Newcastle / Tyne Bar
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