Big Cream - “Avrah KaDabra”
SXSW 2023 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 2
Pairs Well With…IDLES, Wire, Black Country, New Roads
Adding a saxophone to post-punk cacophony is an excellent move as evidenced by Big Cream’s 2022 record Hanging, the Italian band’s second full-length and a truly inventive record front to back. Their mix of hard-driving basement riffs and free jazz explorations hit the mark fully. Big Cream’s grooves move from standard psych-rock fare to an explorative, churning sound, the intermingling of guitars and sax bursting in conversation. Their instrumental passages are the clear highlights here, but Big Cream does have verse/chorus structure in between their commitments to groove. Big guitar riffage, yes. Drums both pounding and delicate? Yes. Hanging is additionally paced really well, not always incessant but never boring too, a feature that should make for a killer, well-rounded live gig. Widely unknown, they are an excellent under-the-radar stop on your SXSW schedule and a band that deserves a spotlight for their unique contribution to a buzzing genre today. (Kevin McStravick)