BAT BUTT zine #3
I had no clue that this was an international zine based out
of South Africa! I had simply
assumed, by a couple of the artists featured that I enjoyed (and the primary
reason for me purchasing this) that is was an American publication. But this art zine features artists from
all over the world. And that’s
really all it is- just black and
white art, with no central theme, by lots and lots of contributors. Mine came with all these cool stickers
and prints from some of the artists, so it was well worth it. Of note is the centerfold and stickers
by regional artist Ryan Besch/Your Cinema. Also entertaining was Alice Edy’s four-page story “Heavy
Things”, as are the numerous mutated contributions from Florian Snyman
(including the cover). For those
into oddball art/Juxtapoz style, but on amore DIY level this is a pretty cool
thing to check out. (Bat Butt)
BRAIN TENTACLES s/t
At this point I think the Relapse catalog is comprised of
about 50% projects by both Bruce Lamont and Dave Witte. Both these highly prolific individuals
have so many bands between the both of them it was inevitable that they
eventually teamed up to give birth to the super bizarre freak that is Brain
Tentacles. Rounded out by bassist
extraordinaire Aaron Dallison (Keelhaul) this mega-beast sounds like the result
of King Crimson getting schwifty with Morphine after huffing glue in a filthy
alley. Here you get a whole album
of horns (mostly saxophone) melding with drums and bass guitar, and not much in
the way of vocals conjuring up a lot of low-end proggy weirdness, yet with
enough interesting parts and beefy riffs (can a saxophone create a ‘riff’? In this case, yes) to keep even the
simplest 3-chord purist bobbing their head. It’s weird stuff, man.
But it’s really great to have some out-f-this-world variety amongst all
the heaviness Relapse tends to be known for. This is still real heavy, just in a super odd sort of way
and I can roll with that.
(Relapse)
BURN, “From the Ashes” 7”
This is the first ‘new’ material that Burn has released
since 2001, which was the last time that they did some reunion stuff. Before originally disbanding in the
early 90’s Burn had released a lone EP, but had a whole album’s worth of
material that made it’s way onto a couple bootlegs that floated around
throughout the last couple decades.
A few of those songs surfaced as proper recordings between “Last Great
Sea” and “Cleanse”, material they released in their brief 2001 reunion. On “From the Ashes” two more of those
older songs get proper recordings and you can tell it’s from an older Burn era
as they are faster, and more in line with the proto-post-hardcore that they
helped invent. The lone brand new
song here, “Novelist (Drums Of War)” has a slower, groovier feel, mixed with
some more complex riffs and passages indicative of “Cleanse”-era stuff, as well
as guitarist/riff architect Gavin Van Vleck’s riffy/noisecore act Die 116 that
he was a part of after Burn’s initial run. The youngin’ in me loves the faster, raw hardcore songs. The noisenik in me is intrigued by the
chunky, off-kilter heaviness of how they write now. The overall recording on this release leaves something to be
desired as it sort of doesn’t feel finished, like they skipped something along
the way between mixing and mastering.
But I digress. It’s good to
see a band like Burn not only writing some creative new music (even if it’s
only one song thus far), but still incredibly engaging in the live
setting. Hopefully the LP they
have planned can respectfully continue their legacy. (Bridge 9)
EVERY TIME I DIE, “Low Teens”
When a band gets both Tim Singer (Deadguy, Kiss It Goodbye,
No Escape) and the character from Panic At the Disco to do guest vocals on your
record you know they draw from a pretty wide palette. Such is the case on the new ETID record, a band that
consistently knows how to absolutely wreck your life. So many bands from the time they got their start completely
fell off the map, disbanded, or just flat out suck shit now. Many have rightfully/unfortunately carried
the tag ‘metalcore’ like the flaccid, tired, shriveled penis that it has
become. Yet Every Time I Die has
succeeded big time and still sort of held onto that tag. They write some of the most engaging pile
driving riffs, with some of the most well-written lyrics one can imagine on
every record. They do not
disappoint. They are consistently
the sound of a raging party and a violent tornado smashed together all the
time. They are, by far, one of the
best live bands you will ever see.
And on “Low Teens” they move the needle yet again in an evolved
direction by throwing in some new things and a few curveballs. Like opener “Fear and Trembling” with
it’s slow and disjointed riff both hammering at your skull and confusing the
listener all at once. “It
Remembers” is the most ‘rock’ song on the record, and while I feel it ventures
a little too much into bro-rock country I can’t help but enjoy it (I used to
feel the same about “Revival Mode” and now it’s one of my favorite songs of
theirs). “Awful Lot” plays with
Torche-level tuning and city-leveling riffs (as well as one of my favorite
vocal breaks on the record- “Acknowledge me you motherfuckers!”). New drummer Daniel Davison lets loose
basically any opportunity he gets, which really works well for this group
regularly sounding like they’re headed off the rails anyway. This is most noticeable on the
ridiculously aggressive “Petal” and “The Coin Has a Say” (with, again, a choice
lyric: “I can’t go back to what I was/ Metallica without the drugs”). It’s only on closer “Map Change” where
it feels ETID get a little too caught up with being kind of all over the place
and the song ends up being a sort of riff salad. However, for the speed freak in you there’s plenty here to
draw from in terms of breakneck pummeling like “1977”, “Glitches” and “I Didn’t
Want To Join Your Stupid Cult Anyway”. For ungodly heavy music that is well-written and smart, but
encourages listeners to get unbelievably stupid you can’t really get any better
than ETID. (Epitaph)
GATECREEPER, “Sonoran Depravation”
I am hardly the man to go to if you are seeking a
well-rounded opinion on death metal.
I have nothing against it.
I generally find much of it to be decent (minus gurgle vocals),
sometimes impressive. But I don’t
spend much time really delving into it.
That being said, Gatecreeper plays pretty decent death metal. It hardly raises the bar, but it knows
how to make HM-2 style riffs collide with moshy beats and a lot of
double-picking between the slow parts to easily spin many a bored, basement
dwelling hessian into a furious drywall-punching freak. Basically, they get the job done. Nothing fancy, good name, heavy riffs,
lots of metal, and no over thinking it.
Sacrifice your out-of-shape gut to the dancefloor Goatlord. (Relapse)
SIGH DOWN ONE, “Memory Is Short Longing”
I’m not sure how this got on to my radar, but I assume it
had something to do with getting lost in some internet musical rabbit
hole. Before I knew it I had
stumbled across this French-Canadian group and I thought it was worth talking
about. Anyways, what you get here
is an album’s worth of songs that have an equal split between atmospheric
shoegaze with accompanying soothing vocals, old Sonic Youth’s clattering noise
rock, and some lo-fi punk nihilism.
For me, it makes for a wonderful mix that keeps things moving at a good
clip with just enough negative vibes to even out the flighty mellow ones. The washy-note-bending may open up a
song, but is eventually kicked to the side by more aggressive, distorted guitar
abuse, all the while the vocals tend to remain on the soft and airy side of
things. Nowhere is this more
present than later in the album on “Nothing In Return” which would be a perfect
place to start for those just looking for an idea of this group’s sound.
(L'Oeil du Tigre Records)
SUPER UNISON, “Auto”
The quick progress of one of the East Bay area’s most
exciting new bands, Super Unison, may lead some to believe they might not be
ready for a full length album just yet.
But this trio works as if they have been playing together for a long
time. While each member has
musical backgrounds with other bands Super Unison is quite different from the
ultra-hyper and aggressive Punch that vocalist/bassist Meaghan O’Neill Pennie
emerged from, or the noodly indie/emo style of Snowing that drummer Juntin
Renniger cut his teeth in. And
while O’Neill Pennie’s vocals are quite a bit different than the ferocious
shriek (one of the best, in my opinion!) that she displayed in her previous
band she offers a wide range of different styles in this band, going from an
almost cooing in the beginning of “Keeper” to that well-worn throat shredding
by the first chorus, and into an almost snarky Bratmobile riot grrl vibe in the
bridge. In fact, I think it might
be my favorite song on the record just because it accurately conveys the most
well-rounded representation of the band.
That’s not to say the rest of this record doesn’t rip. It’s quite fantastic. I’m thoroughly enjoying their rough and
tumble punk blasts, peppered with post-hardcore melodies and occasional
haunting guitars (like on the chorus of “You Don’t Tell Me”). Much of the music here, if I were to
make a couple comparisons, kind of reminds me of old Superchunk or Garden
Variety, but darker and a bit more aggressive on the whole. Anyway, enough hyperbole from me, just
get to listening to this. It’s one
of the better releases I’ve heard all year and one that I have been very much
looking forward to. (Deathwish)
TURNSTILE, “Move Thru Me” 7”
Side A has a Bad Brains “Supertouch”/”Shitfit” 1-2 punch
style of crazy fast and aggressively catchy followed by gonzo heavy and mean,
and evokes a similar feel to the DC legends. Side B has the title track, which is much more in line with
what people are coming to know from Turnstile. That is, it could have been on “Non-Stop Feeling” and no one
would know the difference. So
yeah, it’s a good song. Then they
drop a Give cover, which is weird not only because that song is only a couple
years old and that band is still very much active, but Give is a considerably
different kind of band than Turnstile.
However, both bands are very much doing their own unique thing so I
guess there is common ground in that respect. Plus, they probably hang out, so why the fuck not,
right? Either way, this is a very
excellent 7” from a band that I would never expect to enjoy. But let it be known my guilty pleasure
is now very much public. Turnstile
is pretty fucking great. There, I
said it. Please get out of my way
now so I can mosh and sing along like an idiot. (Pop Wig)
Bonus Round:
THE V.S.S., “21:51” and “Nervous Circuits”
I’m not going to bother with a single album from this band,
I’m going with their full discography.
They were short-lived and churned out a handful of 7”s (collected as
“21:51”) and one full length. Some
may recall a few months ago when I reviewed the Angelhair discography. Well, after that group split most of
the members came back as The VSS.
The approach was still spastic and chaotic, except they were adding elements
that were (at the time) lost to the punk scene, that being primarily cold and
jagged The result is this manic barrage of otherworldly,
dystopian noisecore. It’s very
difficult for me to decide which of these records I like better. “21:51” is the sound of the band
working out ideas, still a bit clingy with that off-the-wall Angelhair sound,
but the meshing of synths and distorted vocals forcing it’s way in for
tremendous effect. “The Fist and
Fingers” is a lumbering, bouncy chunk of heaviness, punctuated by disorienting
doubled-up vocals and spooky feedback, while “I Cut My Teeth” has a bit more of
a stop-go punk vibe and Sonny Kay’s outer space vocals that breaks into an
almost minimalist synth and guitar bit before exploding into full-on chaos as
the whole thing collapses. The
collection closes with “Response”- an alien transmission of a far off drum coda
that could either be an exit, or an indication of things to come.
post-punk riffs and banks of strange, alien synths.
“Nervous Circuits” is the band’s lone full length that came
together not too long after the group’s initial spate of singles. It’s a much more bold affair. The recording is far superior and the
band is far more confident in their approach. Part of me wishes it sounded as odd and cold as the 7”
stuff, but it’s a great undertaking.
The compositions are more in line with post-punk offerings like Echo and
the Bunnymen, Bauhaus, early Joy Division, but with a deft weight to them
indicative of a punk/hardcore band.
Even so, after Kay closes the opening track with the sudden howl of “I
eat the body and drink the blood” they launch immediately into “In Miniature”,
which sounds like the keyboardist mashing one set of keys back and forth until
it breaks. There’s a bit more
variety on this record- “Sibling Ascending”s post-hardcore march, “Effigy”s
ultra-slow piano coda, the upbeat and catchy synth-driven “What Kind Of
Ticks?”, and the swinging mania of “Swift Kicks” (one of the best on the
record). All of these songs are
carried by vocalist/effects operator Sonny Kay, whose unpredictable, manic howl
not only is a harrowing complement to the dizzying music, but he remains one of
my favorite lyricists weaving stream of conscious associations that come
together to paint a weird portrait of things that may or may not be
related. I sadly never witnessed
this band. They made one East
Coast jaunt to my knowledge back in 1996, or ’97 and news moved slow then. If I had known I would have traveled
anything short of 400 miles to witness the live spectacle they created. But I guess I’ll have to settle for
this stuff here to keep me warm.
Over the years both Hydrahead and Sargent House re-issued “Nervous
Circuits” in different formats, so it’s not very difficult to track down. (VSS)
