Land Whales - How to Make a Breakfast

Land Whales from Havana, Cuba formed in 2021, initially under the name Hey Joni and are led bySinger/Guitarist Martín Schellekens. How to Make a Breakfast is the band’s sophomore release following the Null Days full-length debut and the Libélula EP, both from 2023.

Remarkably it was cut in a week on a home computer amid power outages and electricity cuts with cover art reminiscent of Future of the Left’s 2013 album How to Stop Your Brain in an Accident, what with the use of comic book panels. Carlos Daniel Quiroga’s disturbing images feel appropriate for a band raised in a presumably heavily restricted, hostile environment and silly bands such as Rage Against the Machine who endlessly praise that regime should count their lucky stars they don’t live there. As someone who focuses largely on the US-UK, its a pleasant change to feature a bandfrom further afield on Clean Sheets, especially the Cuban scene about which I know positively nothing.

‘Pierce’ is a mix of early Melvins Sludge Metal, (think 1991’s Bullhead), with its nods to Black Sabbath and Saint Vitus with a little Sonic Youth No Wave/Noise Rock slipped in for good measure. Its immensely heavy but with enough melody to maintain your attention while the Vocals have a yearning, desperate quality. A promising start. ‘The Trial’ features manic off kilter Jazz style drumming and Post-Rock song structures with also a reverby Shoegaze feel present too that recallsgenre godfathers My Bloody Valentine; this brings an unusual serenity to what is for the most part a harsh yet thrilling listen. Speaking of Sonic Youth, that band once again make their influence known on ‘Eyes Out’, but there’s also a Dinosaur Jr Grunge slackerish feel too which recall that band’s superb 1989 album Bug, wow is all that can be stated here.

‘Little Glow’ has a punchier more direct Punk attack with an approach that recalls perhaps The Lemonheads Post Husker Du vibes on Hate Your Friends. In other words, there’s no steady buildups, drones or anything approaching avant-garde here, its straight to the point, an absolute kickass number. ‘Slit Your Guts’ is an instrumental and appears to channel bands such as Quicksand with its metallic, post-hardcore grit and dense Guitar riffs, very cool, while ‘No Privacy’ the longest track on the album at well over eight minutes, is an absolutely wonderful Psychedelic Drone fest which shares common ground with latter day Earth and experimental outfits such as Sunburned Hand of the Man. Fans of Joe Preston’s (Melvins, The Whip, High on Fire) Thrones project may also get a kick out of it.

For ‘The Torment’, imagine Nirvana’s Big Long Now’ meets Karp’s off-beat brand of Noise-Rock and Sludge. It has a wonderfully lysergic and hopeless sensibility that proves intoxicating and whichyou’ll find yourself hopelessly locked onto. ‘Orange Socks’ is possibly the most ‘out there’ number onhere, vague barely heard spoken word Vocals, random cacophonous noises all converge to make it something approximating the likes of Throbbing Gristle, Lustmord and latter day Swans (for the Folkier passage towards the end), interesting. Bonus track ‘Peel My Skin’ is as creepy sounding as it is titled and reflective of the aforementioned disturbing album artwork. Musically imagine the Garage Punk chaos of Thee Oh Sees or any number of Castle Face Records artists, which affords for a fantastically bombastic conclusion to the album.

Despite limited resources, Land Whales have delivered a first rate collection of tunes which you would be an idiot not to check out. So, what are you waiting for?