High Noon Kahuna — This Place Is Haunted,

High Noon Kahuna are a tight three-piece (guitar, bass, drums) and their second full-length, This Place is Haunted, certainly showcases their musical skills as they genre hop with reckless abandon. It is not entirely clear if aping the styles of 90s noise rock is a stated aim of the group, but there it is. Like so much that revisits earlier musical precedents – post-hardcore, AmRep debauchery, etc. – the production often gets in the way, rounding the edges and churning out something more akin to popular radio than indie rock. The vocals on the anthemic “Good Night God Bless” are a case in point, echoes and slick recording taking the place of an otherwise direct delivery. Maybe this is the only way to put their influences from and center?

The album has a somewhat baffling arc, never really settling into a groove before the next genre shows up. Instrumental pieces like “Lamborghini”, “The Devil’s Lettuce”, “Midnight Moon”, “Mystical Shit”, and “Flaming Dagger”, offer evidence of the band’s somewhat ludic disposition, while still managing to showcase their musical prowess. “Mystical Shit” is a standout, sludging with the best of the countless Melvins-inspired acts. Even if the pastiche of This Place is Haunted is too saccharine to be an effective parody, there are moments of self-indulgence that are enjoyable nonetheless. These are moments, though, tiny phrases that are quickly lost in the otherwise post-post-postness.

Fans of stoner, sludge, and post-hardcore music will be the best judges of the merits of This Place is Haunted, whose “haunting” is both transparent and at times, pretty fun. Those who take themselves and their music too seriously need not apply.