Appearing out of a chef’s kiss of delirium, Sug’s “Slug Beat” comes as the 2nd release on Chicago’s newly minted arbiters of the weird — LIZARD LABEL! Following their first release of Wav Fuzz’s “Sensing,” they return with another slab of Prairie State psychedelia & explorations into further unknowns. Placing it in tandem with “Sensing,” the music of “Slug Beat” was written to soundtrack an annual meeting of the minds & spirit deep in the wide open expanses of the middle west, manifesting as an artifact of exhilaration & freedom — evoking ripples of summer heat, the tickle of grass against skin, the maneuverability of a calming wind, & ultimately the arcane delight of walls of sound heard loud as hell with other freaks.

Enthralling and unique, “Slug Beat” manifests a vast metaphysical canvas for our wandering minds, indulging the mystic ability of machines to transform loneliness into something shareable and real — to paint a portrait of the possible, transporting oneself beyond their surroundings & doing away with linearity, choosing instead to bask in each moment no matter how beautiful or horrifying.

Sug set out to craft “Slug Beat” as if he was conducting a one-man rave band ensemble, melting down a spectrum of influences into something poignant and direct, yet irreverent & indeterminate — connecting the dots between sampladelic relic freakouts, fusion jazz multi-part suites, and the marrow of the human spirit. The aim here isn’t to create “tracks” so much as to build and collapse worlds, an anemone ecosystem sustained through atomic friction and magnetic polarities folding unto itself.

The engulfing chasm of the cathartic opener “(This One’s for the Lovers) In the House” greets us with effulgent layers and omnidirectional dynamism before we’re awash in cascading breaks, swells of dissonance, and minor key flourishes in an interlocking tango of agony & ecstacy. Maneuvering through further peaks and valleys, we’re greeted with the celestial cooldown of “Pleasure Center” — through its sunkissed strums of guitar and desert vagabond disposition, one can’t help but feel a communion with the Earth beneath our feet and the water hiding behind the needles of cacti, red clay and solar glow paving the road ahead.

Fresh as morning dew comes the titular “Slug Beat”, another lover’s anthem on cruise control, an evocative mist floating above shrouded bramble, all photosynthetic mechanics moving within primordial bass rumbles — threatening to wholly consume all in its path, until it begins reminding us to relax, have some fun, and let the Pineal gland do some stretching.

Harmoniously obtuse cadences course through the DNA of all of Slug Beat’s rhythmatic movements, layered with guitar strums on the deserted outskirts of the mind & morphed into ballads for being stoned alone — all transmitted to the listener through a hazy memory collage playback reel ensnared between action, reaction, & dissolvable mechanics.

Tugging at the proverbial heartstrings, “Sensory Leakage” packs up its belongings & turns to face the coming wind — staying present amidst looming apocalypse & leading into the buoyant Chicago-style jack of “Devil Dust,” all midwest-inflected levity and the enrapturing cadence of chimes, simultaneously welcoming and warning us to the winds of change. Teetering on the edge of whimsy & dread, “Truth or Consequences” concludes on a deviously ambiguous note — the fate of our protagonist uncertain, the sound of binary opposition somewhere between the emotional ends of electronic discord and lovewave synth warble oscillations. Truly, the void is staring back, but oneness and even a possibility of redemption and acceptance are but an arms length away.

The beauty of “Slug Beat” is not in its completion or finality of vision, but in its bravery to take the first step and keep going ― tapping into the meaningfulness of connectivity, self expression, and shared activation through music. Lizard Label’s belief in these songs helped bring the release to life, and is now presenting it here for your listening pleasure. Doing away with expectation, making the unreal real, inverting drab realities into a sonorous togetherness ― “Slug Beat” invites us into a singular & psychedelic getaway, alone together in the vastness of all.