Dragged Up High On Ripple

Following the 2023 Hex Domestic EP and the Missing Person single, Dragged Up present their second album, High On Ripple.

Drawing its title from the teenage trash-talk of Martin Scorsese’s 1974 movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, High On Ripple sees Dragged Up expanding on the lo-fi garage scuzz of their debut with Sabbath-esque doom (Professor Boo Boo), ethereal spoken word (Die Tryin’) and deconstructed glam-punk (Young Person’s Guide). The album’s cover, inspired by Japanese woodcut art, works in tandem with closer Third Level, which juxtaposes mythological imagery to depict Western culture’s disharmony with nature.
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"From the heady tension and release of opener Bible Study through to Third Level’s breathtaking psychedelic explosion, there is a kaleidoscopic, all-consuming energy at play that renders any talk of genre or reference points fantastically obsolete.

Whilst tracks like Missing Person and Young Person’s Guide To Going Backwards In The World prove the group’s propensity for an ear-worm hook, they are always but a heartbeat away from unexpected, uncharted territory. It’s an anything goes ethos that is relentlessly captivating.

As ever, Dragged Up have boldly followed their creative instincts, free of expectation or outside influence. Songs within songs, moments within moments, forever on the brink of their next minor sonic miracle." Fran Carylon - heavymetalkids.blog

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"High On Ripple fuses psych-rock with alt-rock, punk, grunge, prog and doom, and each successive song is very different to the last. 'Bible Studies' eases us into the album with gentle melodies before launching into thundering garage punk. 'Life-Size Marilyn' has one of the best alt-rock riffs since the 90s, 'Die Tryin' is dreamy, woozy poetry, 'Young Person's Guide to Going Backwards in the World' is rollicking fuzzed-up rock, and 'Professor Boo Boo Invents The Plague' is a lumbering monster transforming from casual, slacker rock into demonic doom, complete with chanted vocals.

The album closes with 'Third Level, nearly nine minutes of progressive psychedelic rock filled with groove after groove after groove, and when the band hits their stride, they're unstoppable. Across the album, the vocals combine spoken word elements with occasionally awkward harmonies. They might not be immediately catchy, but they have this hypnotic, trance-like quality which will eventually mesmerise you. It's fair to say we love Dragged Up, and High On Ripple may infatuate you, too." Chris Sneddon - SNACK mag

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"Dragged Up are maybe your new favourite Velvets / Black Sabbath / Crass inspired group, ok? Dep and I went to see them last week and they’re on fire at the moment. Another one of those groups you think you’ve got the gist on before they turn on a dime and dive into a different pool of sound. With joint female vocals, a rhythm section that can do shamble into heavy, a guitar attack that can escalate things very quickly Into ROCK territory. First song Bible Study kind of has everything in under 5 minutes, including a brilliant double speed Honey Bane cut throat part before dropping back down to a loose VU chug. Missing Person feels like a death glam funk group produced by Joe Meek while set highlight and album closer Third Level crunches on the Psychedelia pedal for almost 9 mins of criss-crossing guitar jamming bliss." Michael Kasparis - Monorail Music

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“One of our favourite discoveries of last year…It’s thrilling stuff. They keep surprising and keep delivering and it’s more than apparent that this Glasgow five-piece have a lot to offer with their disparate DIY sound.” – Compulsion Online

"A coalition of oddball sonics with each member bringing something completely different to the table, and the result is an interesting concoction of ideas from a band that is essential to any DIY scene up and down the country" - Sun 13