Search - Caustic Resin :: Medicine Is All Gone

Caustic Resin's fortune will forever be linked with that of Built to Spill, since Resin vocalist/guitarist Brett Netson helped Doug Martsch launch BTS back in 1993. Though Netson played only on BTS's debut, Ultimate Alternative Wavers, the two bands joined forces for an EP a couple of years ago. Lest you think that Caustic Resin sound just like Built to Spill, be assured otherwise. Caustic Resin sound like no other band. As with most bands hailing from Boise, Idaho, this decade-old trio has developed its own distinct sound, seemingly unaware of everything else happening in the rest of the Northwest (or the world, for that matter). If anything, Martsch copped some of his moves from Caustic Resin. Caustic Resin's third album (for as many independent labels) is a towering wave of surging psychedelia. Despite being a power trio, these sweaty cats can just as easily unleash massive washes of guitar swirl with heavy plodding rhythms, or slide into subtle, melodic passages. Though they've refined their songwriting skills enough to sometimes come off like BTS's (drug-addled) redheaded stepchild, much of the material on The Medicine Is All Gone sounds like Neil Young's Crazy Horse playing with their amps on 11 after ingesting too many magic mushrooms. It has a transporting, otherworldly quality that is absolutely sublime and probably best enjoyed in the company of a bong. Caustic Resin may always be joined at the hip to BTS, but with this stellar effort they've confidently carved out a sound all their own--simultaneously heavy, loose, and insidiously catchy. --Adem Tepedelen