Transformational Salt
Slugfuckers were one of Australian post-punk/DIY’s most wilfully wayward outfits – their early singles, “Three Feet Behind Glass” an “Instant Classic”, were brutish shocks to the system. Transformational Salt expands upon the textural possibilities of the music but doesn’t intrude on either the wildness of the group’s playing, or the everyday weirdness they embrace. Songs collapse together or drift out of view: the opener “Wall” resolves to a loping dub-damaged rhythm after minutes of amorphous clatter; “Corkscream” is a constructivist anti-anthem; “Tell Me Who You Are” is as spacy as the Flying Lizards and as sonically warped as Chrome. There was nothing quite like it in Australia – back in 1981 when it was released, and indeed, ever since.