USA Out Of Vietman - Crashing Diseases and Incurable Airplanes

​Shadowy Canadian four-piece USA Out of Vietnam are one such band. Their bio helpfully points out that they’ve shared stages with Mogwai, Swervedriver and Oneida so you might already be forming some ideas in your head of the music Fogman, Son of Fogman, El Tigre and Jordan Thomas Brown III (nice names, huh?) has created on their debut full-length Crashing Diseases and Incurable Airplanes. Add to that the info that the record was recorded at Montreal’s Hotel 2 Tango (used by Godspeed You! Black Emperor) and features fifteen guest musicians including the sweetly angelic voice of fellow Canuck Patrick Watson then it’s fair to say this is an epic affair. An hour long, five tracks…yep, epic is a decent descriptor.

So on opening track “Archangel” we hear riffs move at a glacial pace while vocodered vocals nudge at its edges shuffling the track on bit by bit before the track opens up into a glorious extended bridge, guitars sounding like stars exploding around you while a choir of angels heralds the end of the world in looped harmonies. “You Are A Comet, You Are On Fire” meanwhile goes straight for the jugular with heads-down metal chords, occasionally falling away to let you catch your breath, replaced by meandering shoegaze solos and then returning heavier and louder than before, broken by a spoken word sample and then repaired by a triumphant brass section.

Just when you think you know where USA Out of Vietnam are heading – stellar post rock at this point – “Asphodel 1322” lurches in with sludge metal brutality but with an added air of positivity: think Deafheaven if George Clarke had a slightly sunnier disposition. The track is lifted by Watson’s vocal contribution as he’s looped and layered to sound suitably heavenly and whoever asked him to contribute deserves a pat on the back. “Leg of Lamb” is slightly disappointing post rock by numbers and that’s a touch annoying as it lasts for about thirteen minutes but “Tonight the Dead Walk” saves things from ending on a sour note via a barrage of thunderous drums and thrash moves, and some trippy, psychedelic intervals just in case you think that sounds a little run-of-the-mill.

It’s the surprising moments that makes Crashing Diseases and Incurable Airplanes better than your average post rock/metal record. Rather than making everything a muddled mess, the decision taken by USA Out of Vietnam to have such an array of guest musicians is what sets it apart from the routine. Having a gorgeous looped choir, a pedal-messing psych or shoegaze instrumental passage, using heavy brass or just going out-and-out metal is why the unclassifiable is great. If the band continues to avoid labelling, there could be plenty more fun like this to be had.