Kowloon Walled City - Turk Street EP

Yeah! I have not been this excited by a demo in a long, long time. For an extremely young band (their first show was in November), Kowloon Walled City are absolutely killing it (if you don’t know what the band is named after, one of the Earth’s most unique places ever, rectify that here). The members themselves are music veterans, having done time in bands such as Redemption 87, Lord God Bird, L’og, Boy Found Floating, and others.

Turk, Taylor, and Jones
My Hands Are Turning to Bricks

Kowloon Walled City – Turk Street EP [25.5MB .zip]

KWC cite bands like Unsane and Melvins as influences, which are certainly present. However, there’s something very Bay Area about KWC’s noisy, downtuned, heavy-as-hell filth. I’m thinking of a lineage that includes Eldopa, Noothgrush, early Neurosis, and so on.

The band even talks about Bay Area filth – “Turk, Taylor, and Jones” are streets in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, notorious for its piss-stained sidewalks full of crackheads, homeless, and prostitutes. KWC’s rehearsal space is there (I happen to live nearby also). Singer/guitarist Scott Evans (who co-runs a label called Wordclock) handled the perfectly crisp yet dirty recording. Best of all, you can download the EP for free (see link above).

A full-length looms imminent in a few months. At a Loss, Alternative Tentacles, 20 Buck Spin, Relapse, etc., are you listening?