The spirit of grunge: A Lethal Black Ooze release single, “All The Same”

Reviews

21 Aug

The sonic-brainchild of garage Punk aficionado Andy McGurk, a Lethal Black Ooze are delighted to present their third offering of 2023.

Featuring contributions from Iain Faulkner (drums) and Jamie Hyland (bass), collaboration is at the core of A Lethal Black Ooze, which began as a “pandemic sanity project” several years ago. Latest single “All The Same” follows two recently released tracks, and is taken from the trio’s upcoming self-titled EP, which is set to drop towards the end of the year.

Written and recorded at Dublin’s Yellowdoor Music Studios and Sonic Studios respectively, the swamp-rock tinted single delves into the band’s signature grunge-fueled sound: Sprinkled with a howling mix of overdriven guitars and “an affinity for the lower half of the fidelity spectrum”.

About the single, vocalist Andy explains: All The Same wasn't the first Black Ooze idea we ever jammed, but it was the first finished song that stuck. An idea which gave us a glimpse into what A Lethal Black Ooze would sound like. It’s about dealing with big life changes, deciding to take everything off the table all at once and the fall out that comes with doing such a thing. I had ended a long term relationship, moved out for the first time, quit my job and two bands I had been in for five years previously, all in a bid to have some space to grow. Ultimately, you lose contact with friends when you make grand changes like this ‘...and when you wait, you know they’re just doing it all the same.’ is what I used to say to myself while waiting for the Dublin bus and wondering how my old friends were doing.”

Jamie Hyland (M(h)aol, Clara Tracey, Paddy Hanna, YARD) added: “Writing with A Lethal Black Ooze is super intuitive; Andy will bring in an idea and within a short time it’s clear how it should feel. All the Same had such a strong base with the guitar and vocal it seemed like it only needed minimal support from the rhythm section, taking Andy's guitar riff, emphasising the dominant 7th through the verses, and bolstering the groove through the chorus”.