Crazy sick weirdo noise / drone / rock / scary band from Sweden! The Skull Defekts are another one of those bands that seem to have gone from barely existing, with only a cd-r or an lp or two floating around, to a seriously productive group spitting out a release or two every few months. And with SD, unlike a lot of bands, we CAN NOT get enough. Easy to understand why. Their records all sound so completely different, some are glitchy freak outs, others are droney and contemplative, some are heavy and dark, others shimmer and drift, but all of them somehow manage to sound fairly distinctive and unique, with some invisible Skull Defektive thread running through them.

I dare any motherf*cker on the block to comprehend this album – a speed-metal barrage of saxophones and uplifting climaxes reminding me of a modern-day Glen Branca. Simplistic by design, yet horrifically complex by execution, Little Women’s combination of free jazz with the Brooklyn-inspired speed of Mick Barr and the brutal intensity of Coughs puts more feeling and saturation into every track than most bands’ entire discography. Additionally, the wall of sound is immediately palatable to the ears, leaving the mass in between confused and scared to death.

Talk Normal put a fresh spin on classic No Wave dissonance, with Sarah Register’s steady guitar figures supporting Andrya Ambro’s staccato drumming and keening vocals. Tapes, electronics and the occasional sighting of bassist Richard Hoffman complete the picture.