Cassette Review // Pica "Psychedelic TechNoise" (Degenerate Trifecta)

$12 //
Edition of 100 //
https://degeneratetrifecta.bandcamp.com/album/psychedelic-technoise //

This cassette opens by telling everyone to gather around and I can't count how many times I've had meetings at work where we stand around and I've told my co-workers to move in closer like Christopher Walken on "The Simpsons".    The sounds swirl around like a gust of wind and then we're into electronic beats with that ocean still lurking.   It's reallt picking up now into a dance way and I'm here for it.

There is a sense of "Alias" about this, as it has an urgency.   I feel like there is a timer on the clock and it is counting down but I'm not certain as to what I must do before time runs out.   Isn't that just such a great way to look at life though?  You have to do all you can today because there might not be a tomorrow.   This music definitely helps me feel pumped up, like I can do anything (and with great speed)

Electronics, those beeps and boops, take us into the next song as it doesn't seem to have beats but rather just relies on an electronic rhythm.   The sounds behind these beeps though make it feel like an alien movement. 

A sharpness now cuts through, back and forth, like "Psycho" and then the whole thing is just opened up with huge bass beats.   This song has this loop which could be an accordion but it sounds like a great carnival ride and I really enjoy that-- then, of course, the bass kicks back in steady.    There also exists a banging behind this all, somewhat like a hammering.   Overall though, this particular song can just feel like a wild carnival ride and I love it.

On the flip side we open with this alien Pong sound and then these little eeks come out.  It definitely has an Atari video game vibe to it, or perhaps a video game you might have played back in the day on a computer which required several floppy disks to run.   Now it just bounces like an electronic ball being thrown at a wall.   This should also make you want to get up and dance.

A loud distortion starts the next song as the beats come in.  I never thought I'd hear something come through like this-- I'm hesitant to call it harsh but it's borderline-- and that it would make me want to get up and move but here we are.   Pica has done it.    This takes us into a softer song with these beeps like something out of "The X-Files" and the cymbal slowly rides in.    There is a video game element to this and it's not quite modern but it's a step above the NES I'd say.  Something maybe right before the original Playstation hit.

Distorted thunder crashes and I'd say this one has turned harsh now, as the beats come in.   There is an industrial feel to this as well, which could remind me of something from my younger years but I don't think anything like a Front 242, for example, came up quite this electronic mixed with that darker sound.   This song by Pica just seems to be a tug of war with what wants to be the dark and what wants to be the light, which like that proverbial angel and demon on our shoulders is such a crucial way to experience life ourselves.