AFRO NIPS, THE, “Get High”
Two guys, Syracuse, misery, lots of cigarettes, drums and
bass. I know they really like
Death From Above 1979 and make no qualms about ripping that sound. So there’s your basic description. I would venture, though, that the Afro
Nips give less of a fuck and prefer to make their homage more on the noisy
side. So take that as you will
because there’s about a dozen tracks here for you to get piss drunk to and wake
the neighbors with.
(Aux Records)
BURNING LOVE, “Down So Long”/”Medicine Man” 7”
It’s about fucking time. You don’t get a band much more balls-out rocking than
Burning Love. These three songs
(two on the vinyl, an extra on the download) were recorded over a year ago and
are finally seeing the light of day after the band took a bit of a hiatus to
reassess their bad-assness (I can only assume that’s the reason for the
break). Turbonegro meets Laughing
Hyenas, meets a punch in the face.
Riffs for days, leads out the ass, gravel-throated vocals, fast and
mean. The recording is not quite
as meaty as “Rotten Thing To Say”, but the songs are just as good as anything
on previous releases. Here’s
hoping they get back on the road a bit and release some more music soon to
compliment this awesome little record.
(Deathwish)
ETERNAL SLEEP, “Belief In the Truth Of Nothing” 7”
It’s like all the tough parts of Harms Way meeting up with
Entombed’s (and Trap Them) guitar tone.
So yeah, it’s pretty heavy.
OK, it’s ridiculously heavy.
I’m a bit tired, though, of vocalists that have one single tone to their
voice, which is set to ‘brutal’.
Mix that shit up a bit dawg.
We wanna feel your pain.
Riffs and mosh, mosh and riffs.
It’s good for three songs, enough to have you punching just the right
amount of holes in your wall and not too many. (Harm Reduction)
HOLLOW EARTH, “Silent Graves”
I’m almost positive that the song “World To Come” on this
record was lifted straight from some lost session during the making of “Until
Your Heart Stops” and dumped onto this album by Michigan’s Hollow Earth. I’m not slamming it, but it sounds a
lot like Cave-In. The rest of the
material on this rests somewhere between melodic hardcore and raging metalcore,
without falling too far into the corny aspects of either sub-genre. You definitely get a few parts that get
all quiet and melodic, but the singer still feels the need to scream at the top
of his lungs. And you also get
thrashy- moshy- tough stuff as well.
They manage to meld it all together into a stew that, for the most part,
works. I could do without the
ultra-serious (and exceptionally long) bit with the pit orchestra (Get it? Because they’re heavy? Pit. OK, forget it), but they definitely do throw in some
interesting arrangements that take them a notch above many run of the mill
bands. The live experience is
pretty wild so go see them and get crushed. (Panic)
ICE HOCKEY, “Wavefunction Collapse”
This reminds me of the late-90’s Makoto Records sound. It sort of encapsulates everything cool
about that label and the varied forms of ‘screamo’ that were offered up at that
time (which is all good). There’s
some of that quirky and noodly bits going on (see Quixote), a lot of off the
wall hectic parts (refer to Wallside), and a bit more harsh riffing (Thoughts
Of Ionesco minus bad street drugs).
Readers will most likely not have a clue about any of this. That’s why Google was invented. Look some of that stuff up because it’s
great. Maybe Ice Hockey has some
notion of what they’re doing, or what they’re referencing, maybe they’re just making
it up as they go along. Maybe they
think this is an LP but it sure feels like an EP to me. Either way, it’s a pretty good thing
they got going on here. (Texas IsFunny)
JUST THE TIPS, by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
So there’s this comic called Sex Criminals, which is
bonkers. It’s about a guy and a
gal, who separately discover that when they orgasm it literally stops time for
awhile. They each believe they are
the only people in the world who have this power. Then they meet, get down to business, and realize they are
not alone in this power. So they
decide to rob banks using this power of orgasm time-stopping. Hilarity ensues, of course. It’s one of the best-written and
engaging reads I’ve had recently.
So the guys from that book decided to expand upon that comic with this
small book that is basically just sex advice that is totally ridiculous. Invented positions (look up
“brimping”), erotic stories, sex tips, dirty talk (“Yeah, lick it like a stamp
going on your angry letter to our socialist president!”), true tales of finding
porn, true tales of first times, movie reviews (“The Squirt Locker”), pick-up
lines (“Ohh boy, are you Issac Hayes, because I’m talking about shaft!”), and
more. Basically, you need to have
this book. Not because you need
sex advice, because it’s so funny you won’t even think about getting laid
afterwards. Or you’ll just laugh
every time you have sex afterwards, making your partner think they’re terrible
in bed or something. Way to go
guys. (Image)
NARROWS/ RETOX split 7”
So this is Retox?
I guess I’m not too surprised.
It’s weird and noodly, but harsh and eclectic. It has some of that same bizarre lunacy that The Locust
dealt out in spades, but somewhat more organized. Vocalist Justin Pearson does his best to carry the torch
that Sonny Kay left behind after Year Future, but it’s just not as good. And they cover The Cure, which I will
now deduct several points for (I actually have no point system, I just think The
Cure sucks). Up yr game Retox, it
ain’t NBA yet. Narrows will always
get a nod of approval because they just know what to do. I’d say this is on par with other seven
inch material they’ve had in the past, which is basically me saying that it’s
good but not great. This band
excels with their LPs, both in terms of writing and production. This sounds a little weak in the
recording department (i.e. ‘not as loud’) but gets their basic point across
with a couple quick bangers that continue their ripping mathy hardcore
attack. Not quite on their A game,
but getting by decently. (ThreeOne G)
PILE, “You’re Better Than This”
So I know it’s not exactly the same ball park, but how can I
heap praise on the new Pile LP when the new Krill record basically destroys
everything else this year so far?
So both bands share the same record label, and both bands have a really
awesome take on quirky indie rock that basically defies easy
categorization. It’s simply that
both bands released records at almost the same time and I was looking forward
to each and the other bands won out.
This is not to say that Pile haven’t delivered a good record here. It takes a long time to sink in. I’ve listened to it about 50 times and
some of it is still sinking in with me.
They continue to create strange songs that have weird beginnings and
ends, odd choices for riff arrangements, loud-quiet dynamics that come out of
nowhere, and vocals that croon and scream in a way that remains completely
their own. A bunch of the album
moves slow and takes numerous twists and turns in the course of each song, so
it can be hard to wrap your head around.
I prefer Pile when they’re more abrasive and fast, like on record
opener, “The World Is Your Motel” and side B rager “#2 Hit Single”. They also keep a bit of humor about
them (intentional or not) by starting the second side with an abrasive title
like “Fuck the Police” and it being the most chill, playing-banjo-on-your-
front-porch-in-summer instrumental you’ll come across. So yeah, a great outing, but you’ll
spend a long time getting a feel for the thing as a whole. (Exploding In Sound)
VITAL TIMES, "Delta" EP
I’m not sure if the band plans on a physical release for
this, but either way, Syracuse pop-punkers Vital Times have returned with 8 new
songs (one clocking in at 8 seconds) that have a good recording, and a solid
sound. I’ve never been a fan of
‘whoh-oh-oh’ singing vocals in pop-punk, but I’ll give them credit for
balancing it out with a faster, more aggressive approach to pop-punk that has
more in common with hardcore than radio rock. So kudos to not taking the common modern approach to a genre
that already treads on thin ice with me.
Speaking of thin ice, they title a song simply “Syracuse”, which is
about- surprise- shitty weather.
Just in case listeners not from here weren’t aware of our Arctic
disposition. (self-released)
