exystence club

Back in the year 2000, The Stooges’ proto-punk classic Fun House was given the seven-disc 30th-anniversary box-set treatment. However, 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions wasn’t your typical canonization project. There was no treasure trove of previously unreleased songs, no alternate arrangements to give us insight into the band’s creative process, no unearthed live recordings to transport us back to that particular moment. 1970 effectively locked you in the studio with The Stooges as they burned through, say, 15 consecutive takes of “Down on the Street,” gradually beating the song into fighting shape as if they were enrolled in some merciless rock ‘n’ roll bootcamp. After listening to the song over and over for the better part of an hour…

Consistency and continuity are what make the backbone of Water Damage. The Austin-based psych/drone-rock collective consists of noise rock veterans and experimental musicians from bands like Marriage, Expensive Shit, USA/Mexico, Black Eyes and Swans, some of whom are in their third decade. Water Damage functions more as a commune with variable line-ups from five to eleven people, usually with multiple bassists and drummers. Even though they are often compared to Tony Conrad’s collaboration with German krautrock legends Faust, Outside the Dream Syndicate, their understanding of motorik rhythm comes mainly from later Fugazi albums. That’s why their albums’ titles, like 2022’s Repeater or 2023’s 2 Songs, nod to the post-hardcore band from…