Mothman, The Man are a West Cornwall collective operating out of the current musical hot spot of Falmouth with a sound that they self-describe as psychedelic garage rock. Their debut album 1000 Eyes is a nine track collection that takes you on a journey so strap yourself in and let’s take this trip together.

Opening track Tearless is the sound of a group of super villains jamming in a basement on their day off as the eerie, raw guitars shudder between the thumping drums and grinding bass until the dead-eyed vocals join in to give this beast a voice. Outside has a slightly more punk energy with itchy, agitated guitars behaving like a bugged-out loner trying to negotiate a Tuesday afternoon in the supermarket with ‘people’ everywhere. Hugo is charming and confirms a definite Queens of the Stone Age influence but with more English aesthetic in the vein of a creepy butler in a black and white movie.

One thing Mothman, The Man do brilliantly is pick a hypnotic riff and then build a song around it by adding power, darkness and rhythm which is exactly how Cult of Bone works as the grunge inspired bass is nudged along by the lolloping drums until a huge Black Sabbath breakdown takes over. I’ve noticed a trend recently for bands to use voice notes or answer machine messages on their songs as is the case with Tomb but the ambient music gives this track a real pallet cleansing vibe which is actually well placed for once. The sinister and intense guitars are back on Topographical Face, however, and so is the power as you are met with a tsunami of guitars being surfed by Neptune on a surfboard made out of an old ocean liner.

The grumbling bass of Mockingbird reminds me of bands like Engine 88 or The Wrens but as the song explodes and expands with Middle Eastern influences you can’t help but be swept up in the beautiful and all-consuming chaos. Title track 1000 Eyes is perhaps the most well rounded on the album with the mix of hypnotic guitars and percussion taking me right back to those early Incubus tracks which is great because this one lasts nearly seven minutes. Our journey comes to a tumultuous end on The Void which is a real sludge fest before erupting into a real tussle between guitars and drums. Mothman, The Man are not trying to fit in to a scene or create music that will shift units or find their way into some Brit Award after-party, but they are trying to melt your mind, expand your horizons and make an unholy racket along the way. If you’re down for that then now is the time to get involved because this is just their debut and the only way is up.

You can catch Mothman, The Man live Thursday 16th March at The Vault, Penzance. More information from www.facebook.com/mothmantheman

You can read more articles by local author Roland Monger on his website Listen With Monger at www.listenwithmonger.blogspot.com and listen again to Roland’s shows on Liskeard Radio on www.mixcloud.com/liskeardradio