Recent FatCat signings, Abdomen, are a Netherlands power trio, sometimes described in the Dutch press as post-grunge garage. The name Abdomen reflects the directness of their approach and attack – a gut feeling.They worked with Rasmus Bredvig (Tapetown, Aarhus, DK) on their new, sophomore long-player, Yes, I Dont Know. Dazed is heavy, heavy hypnotic groove. With a chanted vocal and wall of phased, psychedelic shredding, there are echoes of outfits such as Loop and Spacemen 3. Their stoned / stoner aesthetics all be it turned up to 11. A head-banging, trance-inducing, transcendental raga, with its sights set on spiritual lift-off, the piece aims to create a path away from the negative toward a more positive way of life. Damage Tool is a ditty about a panic attack, while racing through a city alone noticing youre breathing weirdly before regaining control. Rapid, repetitive metallic riffing, that recalls Atomizer-era Big Black (back when Steve Albini was name-checking Electrifying Mojo, Detroits ground-breaking proto-techno radio DJ). On Numbers Meijers drums are filtered and fucked with, resembling a busted drum machine. Kamsmas bass is fingered furiously. The combined attack coming on like a ramped, revved up Joy Division. Weird Shapes is about bucking routine to create new possibilities, opportunities, and set to breakneck bashing. Neurotic details the shedding of strange habits. Packing plenty of punk power – a point of reference is early, arty, Sonic Youth. Fish I and II, though, are ambient interludes – field recordings, harvested from factories and plants to convey the oppressive, depressive nature of their industrial hometown. Yes, I Dont Know opens with fragile, picking, floating in reverb. For a second fooling you into thinking that youre listening to a Robin Guthrie / Cocteau Twins tune, before serrated, cyclical slashing serenades, Van Beets words concerned with the awful crushing, gaping hole, of a lovers passing. Good Vibes rails against people putting a dysfunctional label on you. Songs such as Salmon play with hardcore US punk. Violently stopping and starting it tells the tale of the titular fish, exhausted by its efforts swimming against relentless opposing currents. Exhale, a furious space rock flight, as incendiary as, say, Icarus Lines Penance Soire, finds its protagonist taking a deep breath, knowing that something within themselves, how theyre behaving, aint right. The almost funky, Das Kapital lyrics deal with the fight for acceptance, yet constantly being corrected for getting it wrong. The tracks alludes to both band and song being named after Karl Marxs text on the economic structure of society. Peters lyrics can sometimes be extremely personal, but the band are at pains to point out that its the listeners interpretation thats all important. In the past Abdomen have been called angry, however, if the album has an overriding message or theme, then its about coming to terms with your emotions, cauterising wounds, growing, and moving on. Tracklist: 1. Damage Tool2. Numbers3. Dazed4. Weird Shapes5. Neurotic6. Fish I7. Yes, I Dont Know8. Good Vibes9. Salmon10. Exhale11. Das Kapital12. Fish II