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High Anxiety

by Oozing Wound

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1.
Every day, every night Every moment of my life I’m at the end of a rope by my own right Soul’s been crushed by my design There’s no common cause, They’re all just trying My goddamn patience tonight Bigger the pig The louder the whine Stuck in this shit Surrounded on all sides Back to work, like a model of Christ Another winner winning at life Smiles for miles, but dead inside The gnawing teeth that eat me alive I could die on this hill, or try and be kind... Still think I’d rather die Bigger the pig The louder the whine Stuck in this shit Surrounded on all sides Well, I’ve been a bad bad boy I’ve been waiting you out I wait for you to die Solitude, if I’m what’s left, serenity how? Ain’t it swell Little moms and dads Will pass their genes But I’m the last
2.
Filth Chisel 02:46
Why, oh why Do I take every inch of that knife Willingly? No hope, no way to get clean Hey All these ways To feel nothing All the ways To feel the same Hey OK! Inside every part of my brain Eat away My kind of lobotomy Hey
3.
Oh man, I really love your band At least I did... Your mouth hooked on a chant, wow But I do't want to live your bullshit again If it's so bad It's all you've got now that the fad's gone I'm so sick of rock n roll Watch me, I'm your TV tonight Watch me, I'm sad Watch me, Mr Pretend Show And on and on it goes 'cause It's what we can sell, so I'm so sick of rock n roll You live a lie -- Every night You're always right -- You're always right You live a lie Ta-da! You live a lie
4.
Die On Mars 04:48
Oh my god, I’m gonna die a martyr I got caught, deprived of oxygen I’m not paranoid, I’m not paranoid I just can’t trust myself Much better now, much better now Living in my own hell Last resort, a mannequin does the dance “Open your mind!” mutant enemy Locked in trance I’m not paranoid, I’m not paranoid I made my own cross to bear Much better now, much better now Living in my own head Hey Down we go, down Down, repel, down Down down Oh, oh! What’s that that you say? If you think this is the bottom Grab a shovel and dig
5.
I’ve seen the edge and know you can’t press any father If God had wanted us he would’ve made us all explorers Wow, I’m blown away By your lack of faith If I sailed around the world, that wouldn’t make it spherical The only myth that persists is that gravity is a miracle Tides, all machines and lies Stars, that only rise at night It’s no belief I go by my experience It can’t exist If I’m not there to witness I’m blown away By your lack of faith All of this built By zetetic minds There is no space So there is no satellite Come, come see I’m down on my knees The maths don’t add up to anything Why? I’m a victim of facts I’m caught, I’m caught in a parallax
6.
I’m going AWOL Going nowhere at all Shrunken down to a cell I know it’s just the drugs but I’m feeling real well Inside I move out of the way But it’s always the same I’m behind the wheel It’s not a matter of dose It’s about how it feels But now, mid-flight, I can’t hide Now, I’m the wind, I ride time Now, nothing, until I Fall Inside Relax relax
7.
Vein Ripper 05:05
Exsanguinate this carcass and prepare the host Hang the bloodless vessel back to the hanging ropes Cold war, I’ll burn it up Cold world, let’s put it under the knife and then Scar it up World on fire Scar it up World on fire I learned to love it, but I’m filled with an endless lust So hungry and high I think I’ve been stoned half my life Cold war, I’ll burn it down Cold world, let’s put it under the knife and then Scar it up Carve a smile on that frown Scar it up No more fun Begging limbs to move if they can’t feel Can’t slip my mind and then renege on the deal Cold war, I’ll burn it out Cold world, let’s put it under the knife and then Scar it up World on fire Scar it up No more fun It’s easy to get to heaven, you know You just gotta die

about

Chicago’s Oozing Wound are a mass of contradictions: weed lovers whose music hits you with its breakneck head banging force. The band deal with nihilism, yet remain addictively fun. Their music is equal parts sludge and thrash, noise and riff-loaded rock. High Anxiety is an unabashed mocking of the madness of modern living, its chemical induced adventures and establishment absurdity, deriding the industrial complex behind established institutions such as NASA while savaging those who deny science. Oozing Wound on High Anxiety are nihilistic pied pipers making us laugh our way to the apocalypse. The album finds guitarist and vocalist Zack Weil drummer Kyle Reynolds and bassist Kevin Cribbin blending their ferocious energy, sonic experiments and blunt lyricism for a pummeling enjoyable head-banger with an irresistible sneer.

Oozing Wound emerged from the underground noise warehouse scene. They were not only active in bands on the scene, but Kyle‘s own Rotted Tooth Recordings was home to many of its most successful artists (a pre-curser to Chicago labels like Hausu Mountain). Kevin lives in and runs an essential and legendary space, “Situations,” home of the city’s most adventurous shows and a mainstay for many touring bands to play in Chicago. It was through this and their screen-printing activities that they connected with noise pioneers like Lightning Bolt. Oozing Wound came to be on Thrill Jockey after sharing a bill with Brian Chippendale’s Black Pus.

Three records later, High Anxiety finds Oozing Wound’s songs have become more complex, their attacks more ferocious, and bass and guitar lines more captivating. The album was recorded in four days at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio studio. The trio ripped through live-tracking and overdubs, leaving space to experiment with new sounds and effects. The band, having an affinity for the complexities of prog music, managed to bring prog elements to High Anxiety without sacrificing any of their songs punch. Subtle layers of saxophone, flutes and synths were blended into guitar tones, adding depth and texture without cluttering arrangements. Fist-pumping blasts of white-hot riffing become a Trojan horse for sonic weirdness. The resulting recordings are at once some of their most sonically rich, immediate, and impactful.

Opener “Surrounded by Fucking Idiots” sets the sonic and lyrical pace. Breakneck guitars gallop forward as Weil lays out an equally venomous stab at the clientele at the famed Empty Bottle club where he works. “Tween Shitbag” seethes with rage at music industry players that trade on and commodify subculture. “Birth of a Flat Earther” cycles through an elliptical churning groove, the perceived infinite loop itself a metaphorical dig on the belief system of the Flat Earth Society and its founder Samuel Shenton. Certain subsections of society may get a special scathing examination under the microscope here, but don’t let the specifics fool you: Oozing Wound’s disdain for humanity is by no means limited to those namechecked across the album’s seven tracks. High Anxiety drips with a caustic vitriol that is both riotous and intoxicating, a feat that could only be accomplished by Oozing Wound.

credits

released March 15, 2019

Kevin Cribbin: Bass and Digital Bleeps
Kyle Reynolds: Drums and Piano Thuds
Zack Weil: Guitars and Screams

Whitney Fragassi: Flute, Oohs, and Sax on “Vein Ripper”
Mike Forbes: Saxophone on “Birth of a Flat Earther” and “Vein Ripper”
Jeff Graupner: Synthesis on “Birth of a Flat Earther” and “Vein Ripper”

Art: Samuel Nigrosh

Recording Engineer: Gregoire Yeche at Electrical Audio (June 2nd-5th 2018)

Mixed by: Gregoire Yeche and Oozing Wound

Mastering: Sarah Register

All songs by Oozing Wound (Kevin, Kyle, Zack) except “Filth Chisel” and “Riding The Universe” to which Casey Marnocha also contributed.

All lyrics by Zack Weil

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about

Oozing Wound Chicago, Illinois

"'the world’s fastest noise rock band'"
-Pitchfork Media

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theoozingwound@gmail.com

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