Zillas on Acid - Sorry I Was in VR (Nocturne)

Zillas on Acid’s EP for the Nocturne label delivers free-form acid house, slow rave for dream realms and a genre exploding Vanessa Worm remix

Zillas on Acid’s Sorry I Was in VR is a Philadelphia acid house story that needs to be heard. Delivered via Jordan Nocturne’s eponymous Belfast label, the digital-only EP offers virtual dancefloor visions across four inventively pulsating cuts. Philly residents Thomas Roland and James Weissinger have been putting out addictive and distinctive work, including releases on Optimo Music and a brief initial appearance for Nocturne. Their wild collaboration with Strapontin (Acid Straps, Optimo Music) that deals in industrial rave and wonky mutant house is already a 2021 highlight, and the way in which the amusingly titled “Stoned at the Tribunal” manages to distinguish itself among the superbly programmed Nocturne compilation From Belfast with Love II is no mean feat either. It therefore comes as no surprise that Sorry I Was in VR is further evidence that the duo are following their own path and it’s one that others fear to tread. There’s nothing out of the box about Zillas on Acid, unless it’s that gradual feeling of getting out of your box, unaided by chemicals, that their tracks elicit.

The title cut pings out of the gate with elastic drums and dream-logic synth, before the bassline takes off. Is it possible to combine acid squelch with what sounds like an innerspace planetary evacuation klaxon to subtle effect? Apparently so, for Zillas on Acid provide a sense of continual journey while keeping everything on the cusp of being about to happen without anything going over the top; it’s a very fine balancing act indeed. “He Wasn’t Afraid…” then takes things down to a heavy somnambulant chug. There’s plenty of space underneath its dubbed-out 303 surface and the cumulative effect of this slow rave for dream realms is powerfully narcotic. “From Afar” sails steadily upon cosmic winds, with spacey synth hooks, beats in the bassbin and melodic structures flickering like holograms. There’s the sense that the track is ever building towards the close, but is taking its time to get there. Rounding off the record is a remix of “From Afar” by Optimo Music’s Vanessa Worm, who brings her uncategorisable box of tricks to play. Her reconstruction strips things back, opens up the percussion and pushes up the tempo, hinting at Afrobeat and even hyper-pop along the way, and allowing a bleep techno hybrid to emerge. It’s all about the ideas, fearlessly realised, and therefore absolutely in tune with the rest of the EP.

Get Sorry I Was in VR from Nocturne’s Bandcamp