Küss Mich, Meine Liebe / Kuss Mich, Meine Liebe

Armed with one of the most enjoyably rude names in a while, S**t & Shine had already released a slew of albums by the time they came around to appearing on Load but perhaps appropriately, given the label's cache, they came up with the goods on Küss Mich, Meine Liebe, an eight-song effort that almost belies the reports of hordes of drummers and other instrumentalists at past live shows. Instead, starting with the slow-and-low atmospherics of "Biggest Cock in Christendom," which almost compares more with the murkiest dubstep releases than anything that falls under the modern "noise" tag, the act moves easily from similar sonic explorations in the realm of mood to full-on pop — of sorts. If "Toilet Door T**s" has a title that won't get announced anywhere — not to mention another 14-minute arrangement — it's actually an honest to goodness hook being deployed, if in their own distorted and rambling way. Meanwhile the full-on stomp of "The Germans Call It a Swimming Head" and the sheer gloom of "Preventions Arise" further confirm that this is another excellent instance of the Load universe letting its metal instincts arise and take hold, while the first appearance of vocals, clattering and alien, on "The Side of the Road" almost feels like a shock. Then there's the thrash/gabbercore/stop-start art rock song in the middle — called, logically enough, "Mr. and Mrs. Gingerbread Hawaii," a good name for a holiday standard for hell.