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Red Hot Sand

California trio Flat Worms' debut release was this 7", 'Red Hot Sand': issued on Volar Records in 2017. BBC 6 Music's Marc Riley played it often, and it gradually rose in my estimation from "like it" to "really like it" to "want to buy it". As I recall, I ordered it via Bandcamp. Mine is a plain black copy: there have been other versions pressed on grey, black, blue, yellow & green vinyl.

The A-side is a five-and-a-half minute song - an epic by the band's typically concise standards. There's a steady instrumental build-up, until at the 1:45 mark, the vocals finally come in. The lyrics offer a vision of a post-apocalyptic landscape ("Buried in the dunes I saw / city of angels, California") as guitar, bass & drums combine to powerfully satisfying effect.

'Red Hot Sand' also closes Flat Worms' first (self-titled) album. On the B-side of the 7" are two short & somewhat lo-fi tracks not on the album: 'Petulance' and 'Sovreignty'.
 

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