Pale Nail "SM Sources" Cassette (Crooked Branch Collections, 2021)
This is Pale Nail’s first release after debuting on a split tape with their iterative counterpart Snail Male, who is also back again, this time as a provider of source materials. In their previous pairing Snail Male utilized loops, vocals, and water in service of some cryptic narrative involving caves, while Pale Nail stomped muscular junk dynamics straight into your gray matter, no need for narrative and the like.
And indeed again, Pale Nail finds no need for narrative and the like; let the sounds speak for themselves is the intention. And yet the sources imbue an uncanny presence, backing the listener into a cramped, uncomfortable corner, the sounds of skittering tape and roiling crests pushed beyond their limits toward cosmic anxiety, intentions notwithstanding.
The A side, which consists only of the processing of a short loop of running water, builds from the peaceful sound of high tide to that of a tumultuous storm, and finally to an overpowering crush: too deep to see the way out, lungs full of brine, resigned to a watery grave, sealed in tight and wet. The B side pairs eerie atmospheric highs and jarring glitches with a slippery loop that sounds something like a trapped animal shuddering and thrashing about in a frivolous attempt to free itself. A couple of times it even seems like the animal may have gotten free for a moment; but it doesn’t last. Like us, it knows that once a panicked attempt at self-preservation is begun, even best efforts are likely immaterial.
C24 w/ risograph printed j-card. Edition of 50.