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S/T 7"
noisestar_music 2007

"Loud, saturated psychedelic rock from England, doing a good and pretty novel job of crossing up the kind of throttling, manic psychedelia of Oneida with nodding-off blooz riffage and weighty, ponderous tempos. Quite a weird combination, but it works, if only on the strength and force applied in getting it out. The songs just hang there, filling up all the space in the room, and it's a big room. More or less a cross-section of Heavy London, with requisite grebo tendencies (check the 13th Floor Elevators cover) and the painful, violent qualities of Part Chimp. Skirts the fence between loud indie and legitimate psychedelia quite nicely, and its runtime is long enough for you to get a good feeling for this lot. Limited edition of 300 copies, on thick black vinyl." - Dusted Magazine

"7/10 - Scratchy sound on this four-track 7” – i.e. it has four songs across its twin sides, not that it was recorded on a four-track – can’t disguise the fact that London’s The Notorious Hi-Fi Killers are true brutes; their awesome sonic strength might be mildly diluted here, but it nevertheless echoes their live force.
Recorded by a quarter of revered capital city tinnitus-spreaders Part Chimp, this thick slab of wax – seriously, you could kill a grown man with something this heavyweight – sends psych-laced riffs reeling with wave after wave of distorted amplification, the sort that pounds its way sluggishly into your brain, like a bulldozer bringing down a Jenga tower. Grooves are deep and straight, easy to lock into, while incessant battering-ram drumming drives these arrangements through the blackest of holes and out into a blistered-by-the-sun horizon. Looking back, you can see the trees stripped of their bark; birds lie dead by their protruding roots, their nests torched. Although not one of these songs – one, ‘Reverberation (Doubt)’, is a cover of a 13th Floor Elevators number (like, d’uh) – truly captures the tumultuous experience that is witnessing TNHFK (crap acronym, that) in full in-your-face effect, as is aforemtioned, this record does serve as a fine flyer, if you will, for their shows. It’s sure to arouse interest in the bowels of previously uninitiated parties for the next Killers set – be there, and try to hold onto your insides" - Drowned In Sound

"Who? A London band specializing in psychedelic layers of fuzz, sludge, and filth. Sounds about right. How Is It? Well, I’ll tell you one thing: this ain’t hi-fi. The band distorts everything so much that it’s hard to tell what the emphasis of each song should be. Still, the reformed metal riff on “A Prayer For The Modern Man” cuts through the static-drenched vocals without difficulty. And the chugging, heavy riff on “Horny & Broke” recalls Mouth of the Architect, but where screams would follow, there is only wasted noise. As a limited pressing of heavy vinyl, these four songs could be a cool collectors novelty. Oh, you only collect locks of hair? Don’t bother with this." - Absolute Punk

"They're cunts, I didn't like them." - boss_kitty blog

"As a limited edition EP, this fuzzed up slab of sheer sonic audaciousness needs to be heard, and now! Fuck 300 copies, this should be thrown in with the national curriculum, it'd certainly help stamp out the stranglehold Girls Aloud have on our impressionable youth! With the monolithic, near teutonic riffage of Todd via the feedback drenched psychedelia of My Blood Valentine, The dirge like pace recalling Part Chimp at their filthiest! This'd be a deserved addition to the fabulous In Te Red Records roster! Genius!" - Subba Cultcha

"... speakers appear to seize under the weight, the heaviness,  of the incumbent guitar parts.  Well that may not entirely be the case but it is a damn heavy riff.  It just drags like an elephant trying to escape a tar pit.  Or a child being taken to the dentist against their will.   Or something like that.  Vocally this is close to Wino, indeed there even a bit of Obsessed chug going on, but mainly the instrumentation is, somewhat strangely reminiscent of Sea of Green circa Northern Lights.  Whatever the comparisons this is badass.  Jump on it quick." - Rock-A-Rolla

“4 TRACK DEBUT 7" SLAB OF ROCK ACTION FROM THIS LONDON BUNCH OF HEAVY SCUZZ ROCKERS. REALLY HEAVY PSYCHED OUT FUZZ NOISE STOMP IN THE VEIN OF PART CHIMP (BUT MORE GARAGEY) OR THE HEADS (BUT MORE MELVINSEY) IF YOU GET OUR DRIFT, A CRACKING DEBUT, AND ONE OF THE TRACKS IS A 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS COVER VERSION..500 ONLY, GET EM WHILST THEY'RE HOT!! “ - FORTE

“ NOTORIOUS HI-FI KILLERS – Into The Light (Noisestar) Four slices of very heavy old school primitive reverberating blues drenched in super fuzzing heavy authentic psychedelic progressive fuzz and the debut release from London's trend-obliterating wall of noise makers, nothing new, nothing revolutionary, but then who said it had to be? An aggressively positive old school sound should you want it. Limited edition 7”, 300 copies” - Organ

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?
Rocket Recordings 2008

"Hi-fi is dead. Well, at least that's what the name of this UK band suggests, and indeed, The Notorious Hi-Fi Killers embrace the lo-fi aesthetic with not just enthusiasm, but with downright aggression. With their amps turned up to 11 and the distortion pedals on maximum overdrive, the band jumps and crunches through a number of punk influenced originals with titles such as Lost in the Modern World, Queen O' Fuck and Stars Explode, as well as a pretty decent cover of Freddie King's Going Down. This is not metal, mind you, but it is explosive, raw, energetic music, stripped of any fancy modern production, just basic, down n' dirty rock n' roll. The band does have some psychedelic/space rock aspirations though, too, as can be heard in the somewhat mellower She Plays With Light and Crystal Roses, and especially in the 16-minute opus, Near the Final Destination. Here the band stretches out, filling their sound with lots of loopy effects, shimmering guitar notes, druggy vocals and even some horns, sliding from a march-like mantra to a free jazz-like stew of swirling sonic craziness. It's a bit of a strange contrast to what has come before, but ends up being my favourite track on the album. Personally, I would have preferred to have heard more of the freakiness, less of the punk-like influences. Infusing their rockers with a bit of psychedelic weirdness, as they are obviously quite capable of (and interested in), would have made for a bit stronger album, in my opinion. Still, if you are tired of a lot of over-produced, slick rock like you hear so much of in the mainstream these days, The Notorious Hi-Fi Killers are a welcome breath of fresh air. I just hope they embrace their psychedelic side a little bit more on future releases." - Aural Innovations

"Completing a trio of UK based guitar destruction, The Notorious Hi-Fi Killers, get everything right on their debut album "Which side are you on?" Kicking off with the Stooge like riff/drone of "National Crisis", the band blaze their way through the next 50 minutes, with highlights including the short and definitely not sweet "Queen'o'Fuck", the slow-motion confusion of "The Distance Between Us", and the Sabbath inspired ""Feel Like I'm Fading Away". Best of all however is the 16 minute head-fuck of "Near the Final Destination", a practically perfect mix of the Doors epic tendencies, the Stooges noise aesthetics and Spacemen 3's Psychedelic visions, the song slowly imploding into a welter of drones, skronking horns and general madness." - Terrascope

"Whilst most sleazy rock bands belt out great immediate songs that are ultimately disposable, this London three piece go the long way round and just mutate what, at the heart of their sound , is fuzzy go ahead rock , and twist it in to a myriad of shapes that create a rather unique whole. If you start taking note of what bands come to mind as you listen to Which Side Are you on? You’ll soon run out of paper, since there is so much interweaved in these twelve songs that you’ll just end up scratching everything off and writing a big fat Notorious Hi Fi Killers on the What They Sound Like and be done with it. There’s the hard hitting Motorhead bass groove of ‘Don’t Wanna Know’ , there’s the trippy psychedelia of the enormous Near The Final Destination, the far away sounding ambience of The Distance Between Us, the Melvins esque crushing swagger of Feels Like I’m Fading Away , and the pure Black Sun nasty sludge destruction of Queen O Fuck, All this is just scratching the surface, as the whole thing is enveloped in a hazy mist that is both classic Sabbath and vintage Kyuss, giving the albums songs a common thread that prevents them from disassociating from each other due the wildly different directions they point in. If you want something that’s intelligent and original but which at the same time is immediate and nods wisely to the past classics, The Notorious Hi Fi Killers are your men" - Rock-A-Rolla

"8/10 - ...the final victims are The Notorious Hi Fi Killers who have emerged from South East London with their debut album ‘Which Side Are You On?’, a psychedelic mixed bag of a record that crosses so many genres it is hard to know where to place it. The album starts with a fuzzy ‘Dragonaut-esque’ bass and vocal sound that is totally turned on it’s head as the album moves through the bluesy garage rock of tracks like ‘Lost In The Modern World’ to tracks like ‘Don’t Wanna Know’ that have a spoken word Motorhead feel to them. All this variety leaves little room for boredom and is either a source of pure genius or the product of a talented band with ADD."- Terrorizer

"4/5 - These south London compatriots of Part Chimp, Duke Garwood and Alexander Tucker – all of whom guest here – finally kick out some biker-psych power trio jams in the studio. Mondo heavy blues collide with superfuzz space rockers, culminating in the heroically dilated Near The Final Destination." - Mojo

"9/10 - Have you ever wondered what it would sound like if The Sonics fed their guitarists Kyuss steak sandwiches and Eyehategod bongwater all day just to see what would happen? Me too! Turns out the results have been hiding in southeast London the whole time behind a silly name and a wall of Big Muff distortion pedals." - Vice Magazine

“Which Side Are You On? mixes sludge rock with monsterSabbath riffs and epic, Elevators-style freak outs.It's a hell of a trip, tight and explosive, then suddenly dubbed out and loose." - The Stool Pigeon

"7/10 - While brownie points can be awarded for their distinctive psychedelic vision, this debut by the London trio is no easy listen. This is dark, murky rock n roll at its most ferocious, with oddly dilapidated production values. For fans of uncompromising and dirty music." - Rock Sound

"They do just what you’d expect a band called The Notorious Hi-Fi Killers to do – or do they? What would you expect anyway? Who expects what? Who are these notorious people? People from Joeyfat, Princess Headbutt, people who’ve been around London in various bands doing various things for a while now. Moody smouldering edgy raw moody garage blues that’s nailed on and direct when it wants to be, psychedelia that goes right out (beyond) there when it has a mind to. They’re timeless, they could be from anytime in the last thirty or so years - no, that’s wrong, they sound like now, like the musical melting pot that is right now. They’re not afraid of a fifteen minute smouldering mindwarp down the river behind the lines (where Charlie don’t surf). There’s Beefeaters on the back cover, who knows why? Dirty filthy guitars, dirty filthy acid blues, who knows which side they’re on, who went in to the DMZ? North London? Which side are you on?" - Organ

"Imagine MC5 taking a stab at Spacemen 3 or Blue Cheer doing Loop and you're close to what London's The Notorious Hifi Killers offer up on their debut album. "Which Side Are You On?" will be coming out on Rocket Recordings, a label whose pedigree you can trust when it comes to blown-out psych and burly fuzz. The band has a killer, fuzzed-out guitar sound propelling their heavy-blues edge, but they also sport a primal rock-n-roll /stoned / psychedelic side. The track "Near The Final Destination" is a stellar example of the Hifi Killer's take on psychedelic bliss -- thanks to the added assistance of Alexander Tucker, Duke Garwood and members of Part Chimp, while "Queen O' Fuck and "Don't Want To Know" showcase their penchant for ferocious biker-punk anthems." - Roadburn

"We just got this bands' new album in .... in fact we just finished listening to it ... Ladies and germs this slab has rocked us in the nicest possible way. Overloaded backline, free jazz, mantras, big frikkn Blue Cheer/ Sabbath riffs, and weird rock jams are all over this thing ... so stop sulking about the poxy Led Zeppelin gig and ready your headphones for a what sounds like a jouney into the darkest recesses of Lemmy's head when he first heard John Coltrane's Ascension on downers'n'speed." - TTYC website

"6/10 - Honestly, is someone breeding these type of bands?
Better than The Warlocks, more consistent than your average BJM record, but without ever reaching the dizzying highs of Comets On Fire, Notorious Hi-Fi Killers are a thudding, maelstrom of shoe-gaze and rock & roll skuzz while Which Side Are You On? sounds like it was recorded in a sock. A big, fat, wet one soaked in shitty bourbon." - Get into this

NEW SPIRITUALS
noisestar_music 2008

" 4/5 - Here's a vinyl only stopgap of radio sessions to whet your appetite for the second album, due next year, from our premier psychedelic swamp-rock torchbearers, The Notorious Hi-Fi Killers. A steroid-enhanced rip through the 13th Floor Elevators' Reverberation (Doubt) evidences the group's familiarity with acid rock's first wave, but the superdense, late-1980s sounds of Spacemen 3 and Loop have been snaffled along the way, and burnished with battery-acid blues licks. This heady mix sounds as if it was sunbaked somewhere on the Texas border, but in fact it percolated up through the drizzle of south London. And there's more coming soon." - Stewart Lee, Sunday Times Culture Magazine

"It doesn’t take much to amuse me. Just put a toy nun with an electric guitar on a record sleeve and I’m entertained for hours. Well, maybe not hours - maybe more a matter of seconds - but plastic nuns are pretty damn cool. And I’m stone cold sober. The ironically named The Notorious Hi-Fi Killers play lo-fi stoner rock with noisy indie rock tendencies. “The Distance Between Us” sets the stage for their latest album, New Spirituals, with a simple riff and plenty of static and muted squeals. Over eight minutes you’ll be lulled into a daze from which “Stone Cold Liveth” arrives with a sharp urgency. Guitarist vocalist Johnathan Richards’s low voice forcing high end notes makes for some great bluesy croons. Most songs are around a minute or two, long enough to establish a solid groove and then move on. The cover of 13th Floor Elevators’ “Reverberation (Doubt)” is nice, although perhaps too faithful to the original, while their cover of Freddie Kings’ “Going Down” draws a grin, but falls flat on the vocal front. There are just some singers you can’t touch. “Queen o’ Fuck” and “Lost in the Modern World” are great rock songs, lightning fast and about as dirty as you can get. The closer “Near the Final Destination” has some great clouds in the sky guitar lines, although it feels a little long after the previous musical sprints. New Spirituals is a little spastic as an album. The Notorious Hi-Fi Killers excel at playing vintage rock, stoner rock, and garage rock, but need to either group like songs together, or figure out a way to bridge the styles." - Stoner Rock

"When I first received this album to review I thought “what an awful name”, and then in the judgemental way that is expected of simple human nature, especially that of the English, I then decided they were going to a) be definitely awful and b) sound like what I describe as a “pub rock” band that compromised of 15/16 year olds. Well, I was wrong. Really f*cking wrong. Instead, these guys make intelligent, lo-fi, indie rock a là The Stooges, Part Chimp and definitely Comets on Fire, maybe even with some Flipper or The Catheters thrown in. Notorious Hi-Fi Killers, despite the name, are an intelligent bunch of music makers, it seems. Unfortunately, it is nigh on impossible to find any details on them as far as their backgrounds go, so they are a bit of an enigma wrapped in a question mark, but who cares? This album, recorded live to tape during a tour as a “companion” to their debut ‘Which Side Are You On?’, is a good mixture of rock, blues, distortion pedals and the rawness a lot of bands lack these days." - Subba Cultcha

Nevím, jak to ty Anglic¹ani de¹lají, ale mají jednoznac¹ne¹ styl. Platí to o Part Chimp, o Gallon Drunk a jednoznac¹ne¹ i o Hi-Fi Killers, kter¹í jsou s vy´s¹e zmíne¹ny´mi jedna krevní skupina. Vs¹em te¹mhle kapelám koluje v z¹ilách s¹pinavá krev, která byla infikovaná s¹pinavy´m rock´n´rollem a jehoz¹ hladina musí by´t neustále dopln¹ována na nejvys¹s¹í únosnou míru. Ano, pr¹esne¹ jako si fet¹ák pumpuje do z¹il dals¹í a dals¹í dávku fetu aby mohl fungovat, pumpujou si tihle pánové do hlavy stovky decibelu¾, ktery´ je ovládají a oz¹ivují. Kdyz¹ jsem vide¹l poprvé Part Chimp (s nimiz¹ se Hi-Fi Killers obc¹as de¹lí o bubeníka), tak mi to ustr¹elilo hlavu, protoz¹e poté, co se chvíli jen tak bezprizorne¹ motali po podiu, najednou bez jakéhokoliv varování doslova skoc¹ili na kytarové efekty a bubeník r¹ízl do virblu a toho nejve¹ts¹ího c¹inelu. Byla v tom krutá, animální z¹ivoc¹is¹nost, brutální síla i záblesky pr¹emy´s¹livosti. Kdyz¹ tam obc¹as hodili, ne¹jakou víc rozehranou pasáz¹, tak vás to jen tak vlác¹elo, jako kdyz¹ vás zbic¹ovany´ho pr¹iváz¹ou za kone¹. No a práve¹ tady je ten pru¾sec¹ík mezi Part Chimp a Hi-Fi Killers, kter¹í na vás nejdou hned z bic¹em, ale snaz¹í se vás napr¹ed lapit do síte¹. Za toho kone¹ vás ale pr¹iváz¹ou stejne¹ a ne¹jaká ta rána bic¹em taky padne. Ve své podstate¹ je to fakt "dirty music for dirty people", jak sami o sobe¹ pís¹ou. Bicí s krutou basou pr¹esne¹ vymezujou prostor a kytary si v ne¹m obc¹as de¹lají co chte¹jí. Poletují nahoru dolu¾ a vytvár¹í pr¹ed vas¹ima oc¹ima bizarní obrazy z tónu¾, které vám rozs¹ir¹ují panenky. Hlavní inspirace je jednoznac¹ne¹ v psychadelickém rocku 70. let a pak taky samozr¹ejme¹ v Black Sabbath a to hlavne¹ tehdy, kdy jsou Hi-Fi Killers pe¹kne¹ rozjetí jako napr¹. v sedmé Quenn o´Fuck. Jsou ale i schopni vám s¹eptat do ucha a jen vás tak napínat nádherne¹ rozloz¹eny´mi akordy, které rezonují prostorem. V te¹chto momentech bych skoro pr¹ísahal na to, z¹e slys¹ím Doors ovs¹em v mnohem tvrds¹ím podání. The Notorious Hi-Fi Killers je kapela, sloz¹ená se skve¹ly´ch muzikantu¾, kter¹í zvládají pracovat s obrovskou s¹kálou vy´razovy´ch prostr¹edku¾, byt¹ vycházejí z jednoho inspirac¹ního proudu a vs¹e navíc poskládat dohromady tak, z¹e se vám z toho zatoc¹í hlava. - CzechCore

Garáz¹ová pudovost a syrovost, hard rocková riffovost a smysl pro melodie a kolem husté mázy psychedelie, ktery´ jsou stejne¹ opojné, jako pohled na kola barevné plísne¹, která je k vide¹ní na zdech té garáz¹e, kde tohle vs¹echno vzniká. Tak takhle ne¹jak bych asi jednou ve¹tou popsal to, co umí brits¹tí ty´pci s parádním názvem The Notorious Hi-Fi Killers vykouzlit na svém lon¹ském live albu "New Spirituals".
"Hrajeme s¹pinavou muziku pro s¹pinavy´ lidi" r¹íká o sobe¹ tahle trojice. Jo, jasne¹, ale my se bavíme o s¹píne¹, která nevadí, není odporná a nemaz¹e. Tohle je s¹pína z poctivého rockandrollového z¹ivota a blues holky a kluci. Rozdejme proste¹ kytaru, basu a bicí, pr¹ed tím si poslechne¹me pár desek stary´ch dobry´ch oblíbencu¾, kter¹í tenhle mix psychedelie a rockandrollu smaz¹ili uz¹ v 70. letech, dejme tomu vlastní názor a bez ne¹jakého velkého uvaz¹ování to tam napalme a nechme se tím bavit. Takhle ne¹jak myslím The Notorious Hi-Fi Killers k své tvorbe¹ pr¹istupují. Kytarové orgie, náhul i ne¹kolikaminutové jemne¹ji zne¹jící kousky psychedelického sne¹ní. Ale to uz¹ sem vlastne¹ r¹íkal. Osobne¹ si tuhle kapelu dokáz¹u pr¹edstavit nejlíp v ne¹jakém mens¹ím zaplivaném klubíku, v boc¹ní tmavé ulic¹ce, kde ve¹c¹ne¹ nesvítí ver¹ejné osve¹tlení a kolem popelnic be¹hají krysy. Uvnitr¹ klubu sedí parta pokérovany´ch fotru¾ v dz¹ískách bez rukávu¾ a cucají své pivko. Kolem nich kr¹epc¹í jejich synové v odrbany´ch dz¹ínách, na hlave¹ maj hára, c¹íra i s¹vihácké úc¹esy ala Elvis a vs¹ichni dohromady jsou tam moc spokojení a s¹t¹astní. Pozor! The Notorious Hi-Fi Killers práve¹ zac¹ínají! - MusicZone

"Dél-kelet Londonból jön a The Notorious Hi-fi Killers, akik a 70-es évek rockzenei alapjait keverik némi pszichedelikus beütéssel, melynek végeredménye egy építkezo½s, impulzív, magával ragadó lo-fi rock&roll. A teljesség igénye nélkül pár név, amely zenekarok kedvelo½inek kötelezo½ a részvétel: Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Melvins, The Sonics, The Stooges, Kyuss és a kevésbé ismertek közül pedig a Part Chimp, Spaceman 3, Loop, The Catheters, Flipper, Comets On Fire." - Old Gipsy