Straight from the woods emerges a low-fidelity, spastic, feedback-fuelled mantra from those crazy Iowans, Raccoo-oo-oon. The first thing I noticed about this cassette is that the drumming is completely insane ? there are so many abrupt changes played at a consistently rapid pace that it?s almost unbelievable a human is pummelling those skins. The drumming definitely anchors the entirety of side one of this tape, providing solid rhythms off of which to bounce echoey guitars and moaning distorted vocal wailing. At times, it seems like the whole sonic stew is about to boil over when the players seem to be exploring their own divergent musical paths, but it?s only for a split second; instantly the atoms collide and a new musical particle is birthed from the massive release of energy. The second side of the cassette introduces some fragmented, honking saxophone that lurches overtop the drums. There?s definitely a more frenzied feel further into side two, as musical ideas take shape and are discarded almost immediately upon fruition. Raccoo-oo-oon are certainly creating exciting and challenging music, and while this cassette lacks the singular vision of their excellent ?Cave of Spirits? CD, it serves as a glimpse into the primordial ooze from which ?Cave of Spirits? came. If you?re a fan of Deerhoof, Trumans Water or Sun City Girls you?d be wise to seek out whatever you can get your paws on. 7/10 -- Bryon Hayes (27 June, 2006)