CALTROP Caltrop is one of those bands that can be forgiven for going four years between releases. The Chapel Hill quartet’s material can be emotionally and technically complex enough to take that much time to properly unpack. New LP Ten Million Years and Eight Minutes, which is an intriguing challenge in the same way a good book is, is a prime example. Caltrop knows when to lay the sludge-blues on thick, when to give you whiplash with angular Don Cab-ish psych-math and when to back off and let guitarist Adam Nolton respectfully quote Hendrix and Duane Allman. And it’s loud as hell live, making the Caltrop experience equally physical and aural. With Musket King and Chump! $5. Snug Harbor.
This article appears in Apr 10-16, 2012.
