Boston-based time travellers ROYAL WEDDING have new material emanating from Roxbury collective studios ’Berwick Research Institute’. This collection of 5 tracks titled MYSTERIOUS POWERS follows in much the same vein as critically acclaimed earlier releases recorded there, reel-to-reel style, with reverb and rockabilly rhythms haunted by the ghosts of musical revolutions of yore.

No-Wave, Rockabilly and Garage Rock all leave paw-prints on the beach, but RW is angling for deep fish, recombining these older elements into postmodern alloy. Jangly surf-tones rule opener ‘Illusion’ reverberating over spare rockabilly drum patterning. ‘Stacks’ follows in no-wave fashion as the trio lays down a base of anxiety-fueled repetition from which to veer up into tightrope walking guitar sprints. ‘Resistance’ could be a lost track from the movie REPO MAN rife with Joy Division-y depressed punk aesthetic. Artsy Arabic tones invest track 4 ‘Radiation’ with a militarized Eastern vibe. Finisher ‘Castle’ returns to rockabilly rhythms while trying to tune in a short-wave broadcast of old U2 guitar riffage bouncing off a turbulent ionosphere. These fellas are veterans of the Boston scene, having formed and reformed in various incarnations over the years, so be on the look out for them on local lineups.

[Author’s note: A previous version of this review mistakenly inferred that the BRI had been ‘defunct’, when in fact this studio is active and the recordings were recently made there.]