Jolthrower - The Last Sip (2021)

 

The relationship between light beverages and electronic, industrial, or otherwise futuristic forms of music is not well documented, possibly due to the slightly more pervasive influence of meth, cocaine, and space fags; but it's definitely a thing. Few will have forgotten Watford's Soft Drinks, who might be likened to a more violent version of Nitzer Ebb but for the songs being about Pepsi Cola, orange squash and the like. Now we have Jolthrower, a fount of hard electronic noise dedicated to Jolt Cola; or at least we had Jolthrower, the existence of which has been dependent on the availability of the recklessly refreshing non-alcoholic beverage which provides both its inspiration and reason for being.

Please don't tell me you've never heard of it.

I didn't believe it either, until I found a bottle for myself. It was five in the morning and I was on the way to work and there it was in amongst the inferior drinks at 7-Eleven. The label and logo - that distinctive red and yellow flash of lightning - was printed directly onto the glass of the bottle so it seemed like something special; and the joke my friends had made about all the sugar and twice the caffeine turned out not to be a joke after all, but a promise, a vow even, and there it was in those exact same words on the glass; and I'm here to tell you, should it need saying, that it didn't disappoint.

Unfortunately, the company has somehow had a sporadic relationship with its supply chain, going out of business from time to time, shutting down, then back up and running again; and so Jolthrower's Last Sip serves as a sort of requiem to the drink's most recent period of availability as well as a celebration.

Sonically we have only titles such as The Powerful Cola Compels Me or the pensive Trying Coke Zero to establish an obvious association between the drink and the noise, but it all makes sense, the more you listen; and yes, it's noise, seeing as I apparently didn't already mention that. Specifically, The Last Sip is a barrage of electronics recorded in a live setting, screaming feedback, distortion, sine wave chaos, loops, glitches and the like, and of all things it reminds me most of Throbbing Gristle's live recordings from back before Porridge grew himself a pair of baps - that peculiar combination of terror and excitement in this instance specifically evoking the caffeine rush of the world's most powerful cola. There's a dynamic here and the sound constantly changes and evolves, taking the listener on a journey, even if it's just to the local Dollar Store. If ever proof were needed as to how noise has evolved as an art form, how far it has come, then it's right here.