Formed in 2012, LOCEAN (recently featured in an exclusive feature on IDIOTEQ at this location) found its collective feet through a shared passion for genre apocalypse; live improvisation, raucous live shows and sonic exorcism. Signed in 2019 to the Houston-based label Artificial Head Records (Baby Birds, Funeral Horse and Terminal Cheesecake) for the release of their exquisite debut album, Chav Anglais, the experimental Mancunians return this December with their most exploratory recordings yet; Top Ten Zen Meditations.
“Top Ten Zen Mediations is a return to the early, unhinged phase of Locean,” explains vocalist Lauren Bolger. “It documents two phases of the band. Two line-ups of people, two different sets of tension and intimacy in the room. Therefore, the whole album has a dual contrasting energy running through it. It harnesses our live performance really well and we think it’s the closest you’ll get to actually seeing a Locean show.”
Like their creative counterparts/collaborators Gnod, Locean has attracted an impressive cast of players down the years. Intuitive but at the same time meditated, impulsive yet acutely aware of the spectrum of influences they’re traversing, they have become a psychedelic machine free of any regular scheduled programming. Krautrockian in spirit and rawer than an exposed nerve, they pull out abrasive free-jazz and no-wave guitar assaults and encapsulate everything that’s great about bands such as Sonic Youth, Bong, Swans, Jarboe and This Heat.
Top Ten Zen Meditations is released worldwide on 11th December 2020 through Artificial Head Records.
“Is it The Birthday Party? Is it Scratch Acid? Is it Turkey Bones & The Wild Dogs? No, it’s Manchester’s LOCEAN! This experimental post punk/noise rock collective are creating off-kilter music that’s epic on so many levels.”
CVLT NATION“Be assured, though, that the spacious psychedelic no wave draped across Chav Anglais feels like no-one’s side project, but a focused, intuitive unit.”
THE QUIETUS
