It feels like so much of this year is delayed. It's like waiting on good things, and then waiting even longer for those things, and then by the time they get here some of the magic is gone. But for this round of stuff I got here I feel like the wait was just the right amount of time for many of these releases, one of which was a complete surprise to me. Bonus! So here you go with a bunch of guitar-heavy madness and one comic dripping with madness! Check it all out and enjoy!
BUMMER, “Dead Horse”
There’s a lot of bands whose live sound doesn’t always translate as well to recorded material. Sometimes you hear a very over-produced record that sounds great but live the band is a little flat. Or maybe a band you love live who have a huge sound just doesn’t get that across as well on their albums. But with Bummer every time you hear their records you can almost feel the massive volume they play at, the sweat and spit flinging off the stage and through your speakers, and they somehow manage to translate through audio mediums a sore neck from headbanging too hard to their incredible riffs. It’s just non-stop riffs and heaviness and screaming and it’s awesome. Imagine, if you will, the earlier stuff from Rye Coalition rocking the fuck out mixed with the dizzying heaviness of Coalesce (heck, Coalesce vocalist Sean Ingram contributes guest vocals to two of the songs on this… “Juice Pig” definitely adding a total Coalesce part in the song tailor made for the dude), and that ought to provide some context for what to expect. Whether they’re going at a quick clip, like on “Barn Burner” or moving slower and laying down one of the meanest grooves you’ll hear all year on “I Want To Punch Bruce Springsteen In the Dick” this second full length from Bummer is going to kick your ass up and down the street. It’s definitely one of the most bad-ass heavy records I’ll hear all year and unless you have something against a recording beating you with a tire iron before being road hauled you’ll probably want to check it out too. (ThrillJockey)
CHERUBS, “Slo Blo 4 Frnz N Sxy”
Leave it to the acid casualties in Cherubs to record a new EP that has a handful of songs at regular speed on one side at 45, and then those same songs on side B slowed down to 33. If I had to guess a cue for inspiration (outside of drugs), take frontman Kevin Whitley’s vocal guest spot when sludge/noise group USA/Mexico covered Cherub’s own “Shoofly” and dragged it out to comically painful lengths. Or just chalk it up to Cherubs own demented headfuckery when destroying innocent minds with their crazy noise. Anyways, on this EP you get four new tracks that are totally in line with all the more recent stuff you’ve come to love from Cherubs that err more on the heavy/rocking end rather than their occasional forays into psychedelia. There’s also an acoustic version of “Sooey Pig” from their last full length “Immaculeda High” and it truly makes you realize, when distilled down to just an acoustic guitar and a voice, that Cherubs are just writing catchy pop songs with warped vocals and heaps upon heaps of feedback and distortion. It’s a great thing they have going on. Flip the record over and there’s the slowed down versions of all of these that could be mistaken for the aforementioned USA/Mexico or Harvey Milk. I have absolutely no clue what’s up with that title, but I do know you need Cherubs in your life. (Relapse)
DIFFICULT, “Tea With the Times”
How do I describe the new effort, long in the making, of Difficult without showing favoritism to a group of people I’ve long associated with in other bands, label releases, booking their previous bands, and friendship? Honestly, I just want this record to get some attention because it’s self-released, likely with no physical release, and I don’t think any of the members would consider themselves as self-promoting PR machines. So if I may throw a little hype their way I’m more than happy to do so. This is the second full length by this Syracuse group. All of the members have exhaustive backgrounds in dozens of bands, and most of them all played together in Night Owls as a semi-recent reference point. Difficult play very thoughtful rock music that has extreme dedication to detail, in part due to the members experience on stage and in the studio and part due to mixing from Scott Evans of Kowloon Walled City. There’s some subtle differences I’m hearing between this and the band’s initial offering- a bit more heft and grime in the bass tone, as well as using the interplay of vocals between guitarist Jon Davis and bassist Rachel Bass as even more of a melodic instrument than before. “In the Sun” begins the record as a slow burn with mostly vocals and occasional studio-affected drum hits before exploding into a big ‘ol ending. “Neurotic” picks up the pace though as a quick ripper more in line with the members Night Owls output before they get into “The Promise”, which might be my favorite song on “Tea With the Times”. It plods along with a heavy, grinding bass but remains gorgeous and idyllic throughout between the guitars and vocals. Well, ok, that song and closer “Medic Medic”, which also has that slower vibe but goes from morose and melancholy to upbeat and anthemic and ends with an almost tribal drum beat carried by synchronized by long, drawn out ‘whoh-ohs’ that just demand a big audience singing along. How’s that for descriptive without being too gushy while attempting to be objective? (self-released)
FULL OF HELL, “Garden Of Burning Apparitions”
Full Of Hell have become very consistently good at throwing every extreme music subgenre in a blender and not having it come out as disjointed, or ill-fitting. They just are who they are and they are extremely prolific. So while some songs may break into Discordance Axis-like future grind, others parts go into tech-y death metal dirges, and occasional hardcore breakdowns, with twists of noise rock skronk. They make it all fit into their stew seamlessly. And most of the time they cram it down your throat in the space of about 90 seconds so you don’t even know what hit you. The band definitely enjoys adding noise when they can with mixed results. When it’s the entirety of a track like “Derelict Satellite”, which literally sounds like a warehouse full of aluminum siding caught in a mudslide, count me out. But when it’s added as texture to a track like “Industrial Messiah Complex” where an entire section sounds like the band raging through the filter of a helicopter it sounds awesome. I’d say at 21 minutes and 12 tracks (two of which being noise tracks) I’m not sure if I’d count this as a full length, but honestly, this is just the right amount of Full Of Hell I want in one sitting to make a lasting impression. After all, they are throwing a lot at you. Best not to overwhelm, but at the same time keep people wanting more. (Relapse)
GRINS, “Unflattering Angles”
Upon first listening to this album from Finnish noise rock band Grins one might think they have it playing at the wrong speed until you realize that this isn’t a physical record. The guitars drag and vocals lurch like they’re channeling Big’n through the spirit of Harvey Milk. But then they pick up the pace and smack you up and down with a galloping racket. It’s an odd feat for these Scandinavians but I’m pleased to listen to it and enjoy the filth they’re peddling. When you get a song called “Adult Diaper Blues” it’s not that tough to get a sense of what’s about to transpire here ya know? However, closing track “Sleeping Song” is the anomaly as it’s a solid four minutes of whispered, quiet fog before you get another 6 minutes of build-up and burnout, all the while their vocalist is trying out his singing voice and doing a pretty good job of it. The rest of the record- adult diaper blues set to music. Heavy and ugly. (self-released)
KOWLOON WALLED CITY, “Piecework”
Get ready for that slow burn. Worshippers of tone and nuance have no doubt already been slow-jacking (edging? You all into that?) to this new masterclass in sonic prowess. Kowloon Walled City play slow and heavy, but have an excellent sense of crushing listeners without having to crank the distortion up all the time. They have rich tones and through their exceptional understanding of recording and engineering ensure that the listener hears every note, every strum on the guitar, all clear as a summers day. But the patience, the intentional quiet moments, the restraint, the slow pace… it all has a profound weight to it. And that’s part of what makes KWC heavy. Well, that and they do play very loud in the rare live settings they engage in. But I digress. While personally I enjoy older material from them (“Gambling On the Richter Scale” being a favorite) because it’s a little more immediate and definitely makes use of that thick-ass distortion, I have great respect for what they are doing currently because it’s heavy in a different sort of way and their last three records attest to that. Closing track “Lampblack” may be the best example of this, combining big, open melodies and those moments of quiet heaviness they do so well. (Neurot/Gilead)
TALES TO ENLIGHTEN, by Matt King and James Edward Clark
I got hip to this massive tome by way of a few artists I follow contributing pin-ups to it and I figured if all these people whose work I admire are getting in on this thing then I should check out because the actual creators of the book likely have very good taste of their own. However, I’m at a bit of a loss to fully describe the multitude of batshit crazy stuff happening throughout Tales To Enlighten. First, let me try to summarize the plot- the grandson of Satan seeks to find enlightenment. In order to do so he needs to collect the heads of 666 superheroes so he and his reprogrammed killer robot friend travel the multiverse to butcher their way to their goal. Once the deed is complete access to enlightenment is granted in the form of a nightclub in which one DJ Megatrip supplies the music and offers our characters a private lesson in Buddhist/Far East teachings. As our characters become enlightened the DJ reveals himself to be… well, I won’t ruin it. But let’s just say Grandpa Satan catches wind and a battle follows. So it’s weird, for sure. All the superhero butchering is a 50 page excuse to delve into explicit gore and cheap yucks via not-so-subtle send ups’ of popular heroes we all know. The enlightenment bit is quite extended as well with a bit too much philosophizing for it’s own good, which our author openly admits. Finally, the entire book is wrapped up in an endless parade of pop culture, hip-hop, and punk references shoehorned in wherever possible. At times it’s wonderful, other times it’s a bit too much. The artwork is nothing short of spectacular- visually bright and engaging, totally weird, expertly dished out and with a mish-mash of interlude-style classified ads to break things up. The story itself runs a couple hundred pages while there is a bonus section well over 100 pages of just pins-ups by a bevy of awesome artists including Shaky Kane, Paul Rentler, Samplerman, and Phil Bratuhim. The entire endeavor at times feels like a bit too much, but at least you’re more than getting your money’s worth. (self-released)
TUNIC, “Quitter”
Tunic are relentless. They will tour like 6 months a year or something and then put out a full length pretty much when they’re not touring. I can only imagine how much the last year or so sucked for them not being to tour and then spending all that time in the Arctic Circle of Canada in which they reside. So outside of likely hiding from polar bears or avoiding steamrollers plowing over the tundra to install oil pipelines in any available stretch of land I’m sure the members of Tunic just bashed out more abrasive punk screeds to spit out at the eventual promise of live audiences. And now that that last part seems to be a reality they have this new record, “Quitter” in which to inflict the damage. So in the past I’ve made strong comparisons to Metz and I’m sure they’re sick of it, but in some ways it remains apt, respectfully so- both groups are power trios, both play noise rock that leans heavy into a punk ethos complete with weird guitar effects, both are Canadian, and both are really good. However, I feel like Tunic tends to be a little more economical overall with their songs. 11 tracks here clock in at all of about 22 minutes and the longest song on here is still under 3 minutes. Despite the brevity of this record I hardly feel ripped off. I appreciate that Tunic not only get down to business with no delay but also don’t overstay their welcome by making up for a brief record with like 17 songs or something just to pad the length. Save that for the grindcore nuts. An additional difference I’d like to add is I find Tunic to be more jarring. They may make quite a bit of use of different effects pedals but the guitars don’t sound like chainsaws. Often there are somewhat cleaner tones which make the jangling and quick picking sound panicked and unsettling. In regards to how this stacks up against other Tunic releases? Just as good, you really cannot go wrong with this band. They have a particular sound and style and don’t fuck with it. (Artefact)
1 comment:
Great list of albums.
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