Welcome curious reader to what feels like awhile since I posted about new music and reviews, but honestly it hasn't been that long. I've just been way too wrapped up/consumed with other things to give too much attention to new stuff out there. So this month is kind of a mish-mash between some reliable stuff I can always count on, a bunch of hardcore punk stuff, and maybe something in-between. Take yr chances.
BIG CLOWN, “Beatdown” 7”
This sounds insane and may have some of the worst cover art of any record I own. That all being said, musically, I love it. Imagine Lightning Bolt as played by Pussy Galore and released through K Records in 1995. The whole thing sounds completely blown out with big dumb riffs distorted all to shit, punk as fuck, and shrieked/howled vocals about frogmen and clowns and crap. But those RAT pedal-driven chunks of song are all over the place. Whatever, you get 8 songs on 7 inches and that’s a deal. (Swimming Faith)
COFFIN APARTMENT, “Tomb Building Exercise”
I have an appreciation for local bands like Coffin Apartment. When I lived in the Northeast there were similar bands that were wildly talented but highly underappreciated, often because they rarely left town. So when I think of Coffin Apartment, they remind me a bunch of Rochester stalwarts Sulaco who churned out incredible metal for years and are hardly known outside the region. Coffin Apartment rep Portland and play the sort of labyrinth metal that ebbs and flows between uncomfortable melody and weirdness, all-out assault, and sludgy riffing that sounds like St. Helens erupting all over again. This is the bands second full length and I’d like to think it’s a step up from their first LP in many ways- the recording sounds bigger and more full. The songwriting reins in some of those more twisted and dense sections to flow a little more smooth, and even though most of the songs are a little on the long side they keep you drawn in throughout. I really, really enjoyed the first album because of it’s wild abandon and scrappy approach to writing crazy fucked up metal. This just fine tunes it into a well-oiled machine. I dig it. Hell, they start the record with some serious blasting so it’s honestly a pretty good way to start things off. (self-released)
GUMM, “Slogan Machine”
I didn’t have a whole lot to go on with this band other than the title track when it first dropped. But something about that song and the way it was put together made me feel there was something special about this Tennessee group. And once the record came out I feel like my intuition was right on the money. Gumm draw heavily from the DC/Swiz style of hardcore, which is right up my alley. For a more current example, they’re in the same vein as Truth Cult- catchy and emotional hardcore that knows when to be fun and rocking, but can also lay down kick-ass hardcore at the same time. Most of these songs show a band quickly maturing and creating their own unique style, but there’s a couple songs here that play it a little more straight ahead, faster hardcore, minus the flourishes the band adds (such as “Mirror”) that make me think it’s a bit of an older track perhaps. But with songs like the title track, “Free” and “Give You Back Your Youth” they’re onto something that is catchy, exciting, and has a loose and fun style that I greatly enjoy. Cut to the closing track “Leave Me Out” and they add some great harmonized vocals and wonderful melodies for what might be the catchiest song on the record (particularly in it’s closing section). This is a great start for this relatively newer band and I hope to see them grow more as they continue. (Convulse Records)
MIRAKLER, “How I Became the Devil”
Mirakler take the combined experience of past bands, endless miles in subjectively reliable vehicles to play countless filthy basements and fly-by-night venues and spit it all out in a 45-minute tirade called “How I Became the Devil”. Yeah, some of them had another band that sort of morphed into this, as the sound is quite similar, but this is a different beast altogether in other ways.
They go for the gusto and ensure every listener gets maximum bang for their buck with 17 tracks of noisey rock/punk abandon in about 45 minutes. Some may say that’s a bold move for a relatively new band. However, Mirakler have a lot to offer. Interspersed between the lumbering grungy noise rock squall are uncomfortable and weird interludes, melancholy melodies, occasional toe-dipping into sassy chaos, and even a bit of experimentation with electronics and post-rock instrumentation.
It’s kind of a roller coaster of an album that has an air of mystery around it with it’s thumb print/eye blots on the cover, alluding to some alien in a ski mask coming to thieve your jewels. It’s unsettling and dangerous, and that’s kind of what you get from this Pittsburgh trio with their debut LP. (Reptilian)
NO LIGHTS, “Dream Eraser”
Seeing as half of this band provides the rhythm section for Kowloon Walled City one might be led to believe the same sort of tectonic plate shifting heaviness would be at play but this couldn’t really be any more different of a band. No Lights give us the sort of upbeat dreamy pop that if one wanted to bandy around subgenre descriptors ‘post-hardcore’ might apply, but may I suggest ‘post-post hardcore’? I’m not trying to make a big thing of it, really. I like what this band is doing. It’s clean and calculated. They mess around with unsettling and spooky feedback in the title track while the first few songs are incredibly catchy and upbeat while also using a unique set of effects and anthemic rock hooks to reel people in without a shred a cheesiness. They also got a real slick sense of design to add to their music, which is always a plus- a cool looking record to go with a cool-sounding band. (The Ghost Is Clear)
PLANET ON A CHAIN, “Boxed In”
I was a huge fan of Tear It Up so to see the maniac vocalist of that band fronting another super fast, super pissed hardcore band is just fine by me. I mean, just look at the cover of this record. But the rest of this band is like a who’s who of people who have played in basically every crazed and gnarly California hardcore band over the last 25 years essentially. OK, that’s a bit of hyperbole. Still, 11 songs in 20 minutes gives you a starting point of what to expect. A band like Planet On a Chain rests somewhere between appreciating traditional hardcore, yet has a deep love for all things D-beat and crust as the songs are absolutely unrelenting from start to finish. And yet they don’t play fast for the sake of playing fast, or being sloppy about it. It’s furious while displaying expert chops and stupendous drumming. While they’ve only been at it for maybe three years they’ve already released a couple demos, a couple singles, and a full length. While that first LP packed 17 songs into basically 17 minutes this new one develops songs a bit (they’re mostly longer, call it blasphemy if you will) but loses none of the impact. If anything it’s a more impressive feat that sounds better and comes off stronger. (Revelation)
STUCK, “Freak Frequency”
Stuck are back with a second full length (after an excellent mid-way EP) that is a fine continuation of their freak funk post-punk that is undeniably fun and dance-y but also addresses modern ills/problems through clever and thoughtful lyrics. Musically this takes the upfront super catchy and repetitive bass style of groups like Talking Heads, along with guitarist/vocalist Greg Obis’ peculiar howl and hammer it all home with clean guitars that jangle along, or deliver short, sharp jabs of skronk. Take “Time Out”, for example that acts like a sped up and noodley Joe Jackson tribute to “Got the Time”; or the stomping, almost marching beat of the title track that switches to a contemplative, somewhat haunting, melodic chorus and back again.
I think like their earlier material it took me a minute to really latch on to this, but after a couple listens it’s a surefire win for the Chicago group. While you could really jump in anywhere in their catalog thus far and get a similar experience I’d like to think “Freak Frequency” offers some new ideas- such as having the most excellent Miranda Winters (also of the most excellent Melkbelly) supply some terrific back-up vocals on both fun and danceable “Break the Arc” and closing track “Do Not Reply” where her back-ups are more of a lead once the slow start erupts into a sped up anthemic ripper. They also toss in a fair amount of saxophone bleating sprinkled through several tracks to add a bit of color. If you dig post-punk at all, especially when it’s more fun than cold and somber Stuck is certainly a band you’ll want to check out. (Born Yesterday)
V/A, “Stranded”
The idea of a compilation is a daunting idea these days when it’s so easy for people to just create digital playlists, or see a bunch of bands they may be unfamiliar with and not interested in plopping down a sawbuck for one or two songs from one of the bands they may have heard of. But a comp can also be, if well-curated, a really fabulous thing, and I like what’s happening with “Stranded” because you get four bands that are all quite different from one another, but share some common threads that tie things together pretty well.
Great Falls may be the most familiar to listeners as they have a fairly lengthy discography and while they only contribute one track it sounds like two given how long the quiet part is in the middle. Their ultra-abrasive and knotty mathcore/noisecore/whatever-it’s-just-fucking-heavy-and-crazy is made all the more outlandish with the recent addition of drummer Nick Parks (also of Gaytheist) on drums.
Dug then offers two tracks of bruising sludge with an emphasis on being drone-y, experimental, and punishing. I normally don’t go for this, but Dug won me over when I saw them live and could tell how much fun they were having just crushing drawn out power chords through total amp worship. If they’re loving it than so am I.
Canyons starts out the B-side with their chuggy and lumbering hardcore that draws from the likes of Breather Resist but distilled down to big heavy riffs.
Lastly is Don’t Grow Old, a band I’m completely unfamiliar with and is a bit tough to put a finger on, though they’re clearly into the heavier side of the screamo side of things but also add in some wild guitar effects, especially in their last track “Ghosts In the Blood”.
While this is a well-put together comp my only suggestion would be putting a little more into the packaging. For those of us already at least somewhat familiar with some of these bands it’s an easy sell, but to most people a little extra is needed to draw them in. (The Ghost Is Clear / Learning Curve Records)
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