The Brothers Pus:
Johnny Kember and James Provencher

additional musicians: Nick Alexander, Drew Barnet, Justin Brown, and Scott Tuma

Reviews:
"A blown-out shock, sounding like a sound-collaged cast-off from The Shining's soundtrack (and not because it wasn't scary enough)."
-Lars Gotrich, NPR

"The Brothers Pus weave a thick sea of layered bass rumbles, of keening distant high end streaks, of tolling bells, a dark industrial dronescape, infused with bits of melody, that gradually fades out and gives way to something more folky, the industrial whir dialed back, while guitars pluck out melancholy melodies over the top, a dark droning country drift."
-Aquarius Records

"Deep in the field, living and digging, scoring the sunsets, reaching across the table to hold the hand of a loved one for familial prayer. We share a life in love and hope."
-Bathetic Records

"The Brothers Pus are steeped in spooky and otherworldly imagery. The duo’s artwork contains depictions of old time spiritual and vaguely ectoplasmic rituals only add to the groups mystery. Composed as a sort of cut-and-paste collage of material recorded “Around and Thru Scott Tuma,” this split tape’s B-side is the nightmarish foil to Tuma’s soft and airy A-side. Relying largely on a ghostly atmosphere rather than straightforward song structures, The Brothers Pus create a sound that is utterly terrifying and much more harrowing than any black metal band could hope to muster. The sidelong piece starts off as though the tape started playing itself backward and slowed down from lack of battery power. The deep cloud of broad strings fades in as slowly as it can and floats by like a brief encounter with a spirit. The opening minutes are rather unsettling until recognizable instruments and melodies begin to take shape. A haunted waltz strummed and plucked away on broken banjos is slowed down and spaced out like Rameses III offshoot Padang Food Tigers. The warmth only lasts a few moments before the tune dissolves into a collage of distant field recordings and mournful readings. Much like a David Lynch film, the overall effect is like drifting in and out of sleep but seeing only nightmares when your eyes close."
-Foxy Digitalis

"The feel is certainly more sinister than Peeper’s pastoral drone at first, introducing an unearthly, billowing drone that threatens to chew up all memory of side A and make your Godspeed You Black Emperor records seem obsolete. However – and this appears to be Tuma’s raison d’être – that ominous black cloud gives way to slowly paced double bass, plucked banjo and guitar, like the worst of the storm has passed. Only that speaker-swallowing, heavy cloud returns time and again, blasting any bucolic warmth from memory, making it an uncomfortable and incredibly captivating listen until they gracefully spit you out to slow-moving, rolling bluegrass, giving you time to collect your thoughts and breath, if either can be caught."
-Exquisite Boredom

"...all-enveloping, one long scribble-squiggle-giggle-scratch across all sorts of swathes, subgenres, and subtexts. Time drifts, sand pours downward, truckers talk on their Squawk Boxes, deranged blues singers croon, soft guitars strum fireside, children cry, natural disasters ERUPT-TWIST-FLOOD-PLOW-DOOOM-DESTROY then recede, storm clouds form and dissipate, plots unfold into origami shapes you can eat with your ear, and, well, need I say more?"
-Tiny Mix Tapes

"...the real deal is the second side, one 26-minute monster Love Songs Loud & Lonely. It shifts between distinct movements, spanning from ethereal lo-fi folk to noisy dark ambient to ominous bell-heavy grooves and everything in between. The atmosphere almost always rests at the two extremes of "oh my god im gonna cry this is so pretty!" and "fucking horrifying." The last 4 minutes might be the single prettiest thing I 'er heard though for real."
-Abysmill

"...brothers in spirit, who create challenging and rewarding music. Full of contrasts, their music draws from many influences that range from classical to improvised, early electronic to folk acoustic, turntablism to high school band. Utilizing a wide range of instruments and techniques, The Brothers Pus create profusely layered and lush music which reaches extremes of abrasion and softness, is striking in narrative and attains a depth akin to that of film."
-Current Festival