CHAT PILE, “Remove Your Skin Please” EP
Here’s one that slipped in at the end of last year and is
now getting noiseniks all damp with excitement. I mean, when you’re stuck in Oklahoma City you gotta make do
with what you have and sometimes that yields some really fuckin’ bizarre music. I’ll give Chat Pile this- they really
don’t sound like anyone else.
Imagine, if you will, sludgy riffs similar to old Godstopper and
Melvins, howled yet morose vocals, drumming recorded in such a way as to sound
like a drum machine, and divergent post-punk riffs showing up here and there
that shouldn’t work, but fit in just fine. It’s utterly strange, exceptionally discomforting, and an
awesome sound that is pretty one-of-a-kind (a tough feat to achieve these
days). I’d like to see these kids
roll up to a venue with piles of amps and play as humanly loud as
possible. It’s really the only
viable presentation for something this ugly, heavy, and weird. (self-released)
CHIEF TAIL, s/t
Get the Jesus Lizard at their most rowdy and unhinged and
pair them up in a dive bar with the negative sluminess of Easy Action and you
get an idea of what Chief Tail are going on about. This is dirty, drunken, spiteful, and manic rock n’ roll
that’s about as cheerful as finding out that you have a malignant brain
tumor. Most of this record whips
right by, as over half the songs fly under two minutes. But when your band titles a song “I
Hate Your Face” it does not leave much witty lyrical exploration for meaning to
be had. They hate your face and
they’re drunkenly shouting at you about it. Whatever they hate I’m OK with it because Chief Tail is
pretty awesome. (Reptilian)
DENIAL OF LIFE demo
On the semi-local (regional, ok?) front Denial Of Life bring
grimy thrash to your doorstep with some serious creeper vibes, likely making
real estate developers think twice about further gentrifying Tacoma. The band borrow more from older metal
and crossover breakdowns than they do straight up thrash, but it doesn’t keep
things from sounding any less antagonistic. Four songs with titles like “Carnage” and “Escalation To
Hell” (I really wish it were “Escalator To Hell” because that would just be
funny) to let you know they mean business. Their bullet belts are filled with live ammunition and their
guitars are the guns by which to fire upon posers. (self-released)
EASY PREY, “Relentless Struggle” EP
I can’t think of this band without thinking of one of my
all-time favorite Harkonen songs of the same name. And while both bands share some similarities of being
bombastic, riffy, heavy bands Easy Prey maintain definite elements that allow
them to straddle the line between being a hardcore group and something
altogether different. They write
punchy and energetic songs that go by pretty quick while inserting an overall
texture that falls under that huge umbrella of ‘post-hardcore’ (as bland a
description as that may imply). The
vocals tend to keep the band anchored in hardcore realm, as they are barked,
growled, and direct. A good deal
of their music is somewhat reminiscent of what the post-Minor Times bands have
done and are doing (Ladder Devils and Desperate Living most notably). I bet these dudes are loud as fuck live
and a song like “Steamrolled” implies just as much. (self-released)
EXMAID, “Sorcery”
The second full length from this group that appears to have
moved on from being just a project to a pretty serious band. Where their first record felt like
friends just having some fun writing some rock songs, “Sorcery” finds the group
adding more dynamics in their music, trying new ideas and sounds, and overall
coming up with a substantially better-sounding, and more creatively diverse
record while still maintaining a sort of garage rock-meets-Chapel Hill 90’s
vibe. Comprised of songwriter
Miranda Taylor with the whole of Psychic Teens rounding out the group the only
real traits one will find between Exmaid and PT is the simple, one-word (in
this case, primarily four-letter) song titles and that both bands play rock
music. Although this is pretty
far-removed from Psychic Teens brand of goth-y post-punk noise rock. Exmaid at once sound fun, energetic,
and daring to add some interesting sounds and parts that give them character. It’s a solid follow up that deserves
some attention. (Bangs and Burns)
FAKING, “No Comfort”
I wasn’t quite certain if this Philly-area band was still in
operation, but it appears that they made some changes (opting out of having a
bassist in favor of synth/bass keys, which you can’t really tell the difference
honestly) while moving forward.
Their music has always been moody, frequently taking cues from the
precision noisemongering of bands like Young Widows, except Faking eschews some
of the effects pedalboard wizardry of the former in order to lay down a simple
and direct plodding of sound.
While their approach on this record is a little more simplistic it does
show growth, which is displayed as really downer music. There’s an overall feeling of sadness
here, even though it remains riffy.
I feel like their substitution of synth for bass could be explored more
and really add some texture, which is most on display in the closing, brutally
cold “Not A God”. For those
familiar with the band “Hard Work” harkens back to their earlier material with
a repetitive swing and a bit more upbeat.
Overall, Faking make good on this new EP by bringing you down, or as
they say “hitting rock bottom feels like a sport”. (Slugthrower Records)
POSITIVE NO, “Kyanite”
Positive No has quietly built up a prolific catalog of music
over the course of nearly a decade, self-releasing much of it, and acting as
more of a studio project than touring live act. This is due, in part, to the group of musicians comprising
the band who have all done time in various indie touring bands and have likely
settled into that time in life where the interest in playing a crappy venue in
the middle of nowhere with one halfway-working mic, getting paid $25 after
spending $60 in gas to get there, and then crashing out on some strangers
potentially bedbug-infested couch sounds less like an adventure and more of a
burden. Oh, and this is apparently
Positive No’s swansong recording, as they have decided to lay the project to
rest. That all being said, the
music on “Kyanite”, the final offering from Positive No, sounds warm and welcoming,
breezing through jangly rocking numbers with breezy and hushed vocals for the
most part, giving everything an air of lightness. It isn’t until “Non” is halfway through where the band picks
up on a bit more of a post-punk vibe and adding a little more energy, a la Fugazi’s
catchy riffing. I would be remiss
if I didn’t mention that Positive No includes vocalist Tracy Wilson, who played
in mid-90’s indie rock band Dahlia Seed, a band I thought was just wonderful
and some of the music here reminds me of that group. I’ve always admired the music Tracy has been a part of and
her vocals are one-of-a kind. So
it’s a real treat to listen to them, and the joyous music that Positive No is
giving us one last time. This is a
good record to go out on for sure.
(self-released)
PRIZE, “Beat In a Fair Contest”
There was a band from Albany, NY called Throat Culture at
one point that I found to be pretty damn good. They certainly didn’t sound like they were from Albany, and
over the course of a couple years they developed their sound into a very solid
gritty, grungy, post-hardcore unit before calling it quits. Prize is at least one member from that
band and regardless of who else is playing in the group they seem to pick up
right where Throat Culture left off.
This EP is chock full of lumbering, sludgy post-hardcore dirges that
seem to get more aggressive as the record goes on. From the halfway point on it sounds as if Kiss It Goodbye
got together with Glassjaw and decided to take downers together, which, come to
think of it, would probably be a pretty cool combination. Either way, if this is what feeling
shitty in the Rust Belt sounds like in 2020 than I am A-OK with that. (Fuzz Records)
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