A.M. NICE, “Man On a Wire” 7”
I checked out this band’s last offering, which was straight
80’s power-pop bliss. This
three-songer is a mixed bag, and I’m not mad, it just throws me back to a
different time… in three different
ways. The first track is a nod to
90’s alterna-radio-rock, the kind of stuff that when it emerged and I was an
angsty teen I thought it was kind of lame and below par of the aggressiveness I
craved. So Gin Blossom fans
rejoice, this song is for you.
Track two, the title track, is an ode to Cursive, “Domestica” in every
way possible. Again, not mad about
it. They do a nice job homage-ing
(if that’s a word). Finally, they
clean up with “Elliott the Man”, 90 freewheeling seconds of the kind of stuff I
recall this band doing before- fast power pop straight out of the garage,
channeling Ted Leo from 1995 into 2019.
It’s honestly the best track on the whole thing and quite wonderful at
that. More track 3 please. (Phratry Records)
BUMMER, “Thanks For Nothing” 7”
Fuck yeah Bummer.
If only we got more songs on this new slab of wax. As usual they deliver riffs heavier
than a dozen TADs weighing down a garbage truck falling off the side of a cliff
and somehow make how ridiculously loud they are live translate perfectly to
record. Opening track “Second
Chimes” hits you with that steamrolling two-note riff of destruction and if
you’re not dead afterwards “Grim Sleeper” will peel what’s left of your face
off with it’s bass-driven lurch in under two minutes. And then they do a cover of Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful
People”... and ya know, it’s a
generational thing because I never because I never got into that band. But if you’re going to pick a Marilyn
Manson song to cover this would be the one simply because it’s pretty fuckin’
heavy. Finally, Bummer throw on a
demo version of their song “King Shit” from last year’s “Holy Terror” full
length. So even though I’m fiending
for a new full length already thanks for something. (Learning Curve Records)
CHILD BITE, “Blow Off the Omens”
The newest full length from Detroit’s Child Bite is a lot to
take in. When you are a weirdo
noise rock/punk/metallic sort of band and the core of your group is the singer
and bass player I can imagine it’s tough to round up a guitarist and drummer
who can properly envision what it is they want to put out into the world. To be fair, though, vocalist Shawn
Knight knows his way around a guitar and bassist Sean Clancy has a truly
one-of-a-kind low-end thunder that is equal parts David Wm Sims and Brian Cook,
and both long-standing members have strong artistic backgrounds that lend
themselves to the exceptionally unique visual and musical experience that is
Child Bite. And they have also
been a band for a long time and have evolved considerably during that tenure. So I think with the new additions to
the band they have managed to stay true to their sound while expanding
ever-outward into the realms of weird chaos. It took me a few listens to fully wrap my head around “Blow
Off the Omens”, and part of that has to do with the recording by Steve
Albini. Purists will call out
blasphemy, but I feel like a number of recordings he does seem to lack a bit of
punch (when it’s a band where that is called for) and go for warmth instead. It’s strange, I can’t pin it down. But differences in recording aside, a
few spins into this release and I’m a total believer and would place it right
on top of the Child Bite catalog (which is vast with numerous splits and EPs
scattered across several full lengths).
There’s a few less of those bellowed ‘whoh-ohs’ that Knight belts out so
confidently, but when they arrive they are exceptional. The music is heavy, weird, bombastic
and is indebted to Voivod just as much as it is to Cosmic Psychos, MC5 and Dead
Kennedys. They have Bad Brain roots and filter them through proggy metal and
noise rock. I love it. And the guests on the record- from a
couple of instances of Bruce Lamont’s wild saxophone, to Chewy from Voivod
laying down a great solo on the title track- feel less like guest spots and
more like natural occurrences. I
can’t recommend this enough, even if it takes a bit of time to digest before it
fully comes into focus as the great chunk of music that it is. (Housecore)
GREET DEATH, “New Hell”
Upon checking out the first single from this young band out
of Michigan I thought, ‘this is good, but I already own every Cloakroom
record’. But as I gave the whole
thing a few spins some really interesting stuff started coming out. For starters, there’s a significant
emphasis on the interplay of the dual vocals that both have a unique cadence
and timbre to them that would probably sound kind of annoying (to me anyway) in
almost any other kind of band. But
here it’s just slightly odd enough to work in a strange and colorful sort of
way. Musically it plods along and
songs stretching out for 6 minutes or so are commonplace. I mean, they really do nail down those
Cloakroom riffs/vibes/tones exactly and I’m unsure if that’s a little too close
to source material for me to take this seriously, or if I just say ‘fuck it,
who cares’ and enjoy this for being a really cool collection of songs that I
find satisfying. (Deathwish Inc)
LUGGAGE, “Shift”
This one is a real long slow burn. Luggage, from out of Chicago, rely on minimalist noise and
rhythm, Shellac-level attentive detail to tone and precision, and the patience
of listeners because this takes a few listens to sink in. I’m reminded of another record released
in the not-too-distant past by Corpse Flower Records and that would be German
post-hardcore group Heads who share a lot in common with the sounds that
Luggage is laying down. Both go
for heavy by way of space and frequent clean guitar. But that guitar is struck so sharply that the resulting
twang is like a piano wire garrote to the jugular. Luggage sneak in late at night, steal your shit, and leave a
knife stuck in the family photo as a calling card. It’s surreptitious, and cold-blooded, and just a bit chaotic
too. But they’re secretly
controlling it every step of the way. (Corpse Flower)
SLEEPCRAWLER, “HTN” b/w “Albatross” 7”
I remember when Sunny Day Real Estate came around and then a
million hardcore/emo kids jumped on the bandwagon and started bands that
sounded like Sunny Day. Some were
decent, others just bad.
Sleepcrawler brings me back to that time where groups like Mineral and
Ethel Meserve were doing their thing in a very second-tier Sunny Day Real
Estate sort of way, and they hone in on that vibe pretty well. Sure, it’s slightly updated with some
fancy guitar pedals that occasionally go into space-rock-era Cave-In territory,
but this is where Sleepcrawler are at and it’s honestly just fine. Two songs on this record, both fairly
lengthy and overflowing with earnest emotion and melody and heartfelt something
or other. (Phratry Records)
SUNSTROKE, “Bloom At Night” 12” EP
I have a bit of a regret in that I drove up to Seattle a
little while back to see a show and this band was opening and I did not concern
myself with being exactly on time (to be fair, I was coming from an earlier
show elsewhere in town). And due
to that I only caught the last song of Sunstroke’s set. It’s too bad, because
not much later I finally listened to their music and found it be quite
enjoyable. So yeah, here’s a new
EP from them that has 4 new songs, as well as a Dag Nasty cover and comes in a
fancy package that’s also very colorful to boot. Sunstroke are of that ilk that take many cues from
Revolution Summer-era harDCore
whether it’s past luminaries such as Rites Of Spring to more current
practitioners like Give. However,
choosing to cover Dag Nasty is very appropriate for this group as they really
add a good dose of melodic hardcore (with a lot less singing and more
gravel-throated hollering) in their sound overall, which I’m usually doesn’t
move me all that much. Sunstroke stoke
the flames of familiar sounds, which combines some other familiar sounds to create
new and enjoyable sounds. Got
it? This is definitely more
melodic than past efforts, but I dig it.
Lyrically, almost all of the EP seems to focus on mental health issues
and brought up in an interesting, story-like fashion. Good on them for offering up a powerful and sincere effort,
I look forward to more. (New Morality)
TILE, “Stendell” 12” EP
My dudes. It’s
a rare gift that Tile present new music more than once every three years or
so. So getting a new EP a year
after their monumental “Come On Home, Stranger” LP is like Christmas come
early. I’ll say that “Stendell”
doesn’t carry quite the absurd heft their last LP had, and the recording is a
little less bombastic overall as well (OK, it’s just less songs and I want
more, so what). But as a
placeholder to hopefully more music in the not-too-distant future I’ll take it
and play the shit out of it. You
get five new tracks of negative, down-tuned sludge/noise rock grumpiness and
piledrive it into yr skull. Things
do start off on an upbeat, faster note with “Scarf Of Vain” before breaking
into the thudding clomp of “Not Ready”.
The next two tracks play around with some cleaner sounds before walloping
you with the heavy, and then record closer “Kyle’s Paperclip” drowns the
listener in one big, gigantic heavy riff and a trunk full of bad feelings. Tile are one of my absolute favorite
current bands in the game and it makes me giddy just to have some new stuff
from them. I’d suggest getting it
all. (Corpse Flower)
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