Poison Apple Records: Press

PURPLE RHINESTONE EAGLE / NORTHERN SWORDS / FORSORCERERS Fantasy Quest (Poison Apple) 7"

Ok, how can you go wrong with a record called Fantasy Quest, that features awesome, high school binder, D&D fantasy pencil art, with a dog headed warrior princess wielding a shield and a tiny mouse with a sword waving a pennant, some ghosts, a winged rabbit headed warrior, a creepy forest, a castle, even harder to resist when you realize it's a compilation of all female, mostly instrumental, fuzzy, psychedelic hard rocking, metal bands from the Northwest! FUCK YEAH!
First up is Purple Rhinestone Eagle, whose record we went nuts for a while back, and their track here is just as good as anything on the full length, pounding, groovy, garagey, a little stonery, a lot space-y, riffy, metallic psych rock with a pinch of NWOBHM, so so good!
Here they're teamed up with Northern Swords, whose track is a two parter, you gotta flip the disc to hear the whole thing, and it slays, like a more loose Fucking Champs, still tight and technical, with killer harmonized guitar leads, killer drumming, the second part is super aggro and WAY technical, and relentlessly rocking, both parts sound like they COULD, or SHOULD have lyrics about dragons and swords and sorcerers, you can almost hear the airbrushed seventies van, and leather pants, the fringed jackets and feathered hair, the big amps and smoke machines.
Finally, Forsorcerers (awesome name btw!) finish things off, kicking out the only jam with vocals, total hard rocking classic garage rock, like Thin Lizzy crossed with the Runaways, more awesomely tangled guitar harmonies, and bad ass female vox.
Not sure what's going on up North, but we definitely want more.
Pressed on super striking white / black / grey splatter vinyl, with a printed insert, and the aforementioned bad ass cover.

Purple Rhinestone Eagle/Northern Swords/Forsorcerers
Fantasy Quest 7″
Poison Apple

What the fuck is going on in Portland, Oregon? I thought my recent discovery of Purple Rhinestone Eagle was rare, but it turns out the whole town is full of secret covens in hidden lairs amassing a cohesive army of high priestess power, steadying themselves to strike like a seething force of Joan of Arcs. Joining Purple Rhinestone Eagle on this particular battlefield (Poison Apple’s split seven inch, Fantasy Quest, from November 2009) are Northern Swords and Forsorcerers, and together they rock in the name of glory, freedom, honour, and death.

Purple Rhinestone Eagle kicks off Side A with “Don’t Want You (Like You Want Me),” viciously beating you about the ribs with a cudgel of fuzz, followed by Northern Swords’ twin metal guitar attack, “Huckleberry Egg and the Diamond Jewel (Pt. 1).” The split gains bloodthirsty momentum on Side B with Northern Swords’ “Huckleberry Egg and the Diamond Jewel (Pt. 2),” which thrashes around like an angry dragon, then gallops on home atop the horse of retro doom with Forsorcerers’ “Timekeepers.” So, it seems the sisterhood of metal is alive and well (in the Northwest at least), and this split is a small victory, albeit a triumphant one.

Purple Rhinestone Eagle "Don't Want You (Like You Want Me)" - 7" split

This track, from Purple Rhinestone Eagle’s new 7-inch (a recently released split with Northern Swords and Forsorcerers), is something a little different for the band. Everything on “Don’t Want You” seems to be both sped up and turned up—which is perhaps a bit more reflective of PRE’s live show than past recordings have been. Where much of Purple Rhinestone Eagle’s 2009 Amorum Tali EP reminded of Sabbath and the heavier side of the Doors repertoire (infused, of course, with a heavy dose of punk spirit), “Don’t Want You” feels like a heavier Dead Moon cut or an early Butthole Surfers b-side (all that’s missing is Gibby Haynes going “Eiiiiiii!” in the middle).

“Don’t Want You” is largely instrumental, which is another change-up for PRE. But we don’t come away from this one in want of lyrics (and honestly, we had kind of a hard time figuring out what PRE was singing about, anyway). Two and a half minutes into this cut, we hear the ladies of PRE contributing ghostly hollers and pained screams (like a bizarro Explode Into Colors, or maybe the evil band that Explode Into Colors fights in the Explode Into Colors / Purple Rhinestone Eagle Saturday morning cartoon show), and it’s a nice momentary reprieve from the awesome buzzsaw riffage that makes up most of the track. Then we wrap things up with more crushing distortion.

You’ll also notice that Ashley Spungin’s drumming kicks ass. Which is part of the reason Purple Rhinestone Eagle is playing a second benefit show for a female drumming publication Tom Tom Magazine (the first is tonight at Holocene, and it also features Spungin) at Backspace tomorrow night with Lozen and Hotbox. It’s $5, going to a good cause, and best of all it’s ALL AGES! You have been advised.