Forget the Times – Winter Haven
1.8.19 by Ryan Masteller

Forget the Times is dangerous. Sure, their freeform skronk is as serrated and jagged and explosive as it gets, and the “collective” happens to employ one of their own for “guitar processing” (Josh Miller; core dudes Sean Hartman on guitar/tenor sax and Andrew Buczek on drums round out the band on this release), so you know it’s going to be at least a little noisy, a little unpredictable, a little perilous. Listen at your own risk kind of stuff. It’s up to you to chance it.

But Forget the Times is also sneaky, dropping a little botany lesson on us as they whip themselves into a frenzy over two long tracks, one per side, improvised to within an inch of chaotic self-destruction. (I can’t stress this enough – this is the kind of energetic output that caused all those Spinal Tap drummers to spontaneously combust; I’d be careful if I were Forget the Times.) On “Nasturtium Blues,” they’re down about this little edible thing (because “blues” signifies that something’s got you down). Maybe one of them had a urinary tract infection and nasturtium wasn’t doing it for them? Those infections are painful – I don’t blame anybody for savagely jamming for seventeen minutes because they were pissed at how bad one of them hurt. (Oops, shouldn’t say “piss” in this situation I guess!)

“Bergamot Swirl” is a psychedelic examination of the bergamot orange, a green, Ionian Sea lime-looking number that “tastes less sour than a lemon, but more bitter than a grapefruit.” First, I thought oranges were orange, so can someone clear that up please? Second, I like lemons and grapefruits, so I’ll be sure to try one of these when I can. Anybody brewing IPAs or anything with bergamots? Mixing them into smoothies? “Bergamot Swirl” is the sonic equivalent of the results of chugging a bergamot smoothie on a dare.

See? Dangerous: Forget the Times wants us to eat our fruits and our vegetables. And how’s Big Sugar gonna take that? Not sitting down, that’s for sure not how.

Avoid scurvy this wither over at NULL|Z0NE as they maintain some kind of healthy eating propaganda machine through sound. Edition of 50!