Bongripper - Hate Ashbury
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Referencing the notorious San Francisco district Haight Ashbury, Bongripper relishes another opportunity to smash the hippie mold. Hate Ashbury re-affirms the Chicago quartet’s slogan, “The only good hippie is a dead hippie.” A hostile illustration plasters Hate Ashbury with anti-beatnik animosity. All peace, love, and happiness vanish as the fingers of the peace sign are torn from the joints.
Pt. III (excerpt)Pt. IV (excerpt)
Yet Bongripper conjures a sweet high, injecting dense doom with kisses of ambient mist. After two minutes, “Pt. III” lingers like smoke escaping weed-infested lungs. The delay pedal, bass hum, and drum batter caress like soft hands. The atmospheric delicacy is nice for a change, but it evaporates as guitars plow into the vapor on “Pt. IV.” Despite its lack of vocals, the transition is an awakening. When asked why Bongripper despises hippies, guitarist Nick Dellacroce replies, “The real question is, ‘What is there to like about hippies?’ Fuck peace. Hail Satan. Worship doom.” If there?s food for thought in those statements, I suggest the latter for mass consumption.
