A day late and a dollar short's better than not at all. And with that quasi-apology I'll begin my review. I got a promo copy of this, and while that may sound like uh, braggadocio, as anyone who's even partially in the reviewing shit business knows, you NEVER get ANYTHING good . So, to drop this on the player and instantly have all bad vibes instantly leave the room, well, it was pretty rewarding. Damn rewarding. I played it for Josh Boyer and he ran around on the floor ala Homer Simpson. <a href="http://www.loadrecords.com/" target="_blank" class="text">Load</a> has for the last five years been among my top three favorite labels. The "Load sound" or 'providence sound', or 'freak rock' or whatever isn't a readily definable thing, other than generally speaking it seems to be more theatrical, nervous and frenetic than your standard faire rock-dude bands. That said, Lightning Bolt is the flagship act for a scene that is pushing punk rock quite a bit outside of the standard comfort zone. These two dudes play insanely loud equipment and ride the crest of a big, overdriven bass wave with the skill of Larry Burtleman. It's a large, galloping, energetic sound. Ride the Skies realizes their potential beyond anything else they've done. I like concepts and improvisation, but don't find myself going back to their early material that often. I listen to Ride the Skies at least once every two weeks. Reference points abound, but aren't necessarily dwelled upon. Most notably to me are Ruins and Boredoms similarities. Let there be much more rock of this sort.