The themes here this month are first, all bands who are presenting follow ups. It's their second, third, or fifth, whatever record. Second theme: a virtual cornucopia of variety as colorful as the leaves in a New England forest in October. And hey, it's October! So this fits. Let's go.
I wanted to kick things off this month with two highly anticipated releases that sonically sound exceptionally different from one another, but both follow a similar path- coasting on a good idea. DRUG CHURCH is old hat on what works for them at this point, having been an active band for well over 10 years and 5 full lengths in. CHAT PILE have been at it for a bit now, but everyone’s hot to know if they can work their magic for the ever-questionable sophomore album.
It’s wild to see how well-received DRUG CHURCH has been in the last few years as I distinctly remember Pat Kinldlon giving me their demo and saying he’s doing this ‘project band’ and he ‘wasn’t sure if it would go anywhere’. “Prude” is record number five and I’ll be perfectly honest by saying you could interchange the songs from this record and either of their two LPs before it and no one would be the wiser. I know that may come off as insulting, but the truth is they picked up on a good thing and have run with it since. If anything “Prude” is even more listener-friendly and moves along a bit faster than it’s predecessors. Each of their records has its stand out tracks and this is no different with “Myopic” probably being my favorite here. However, of all their records “Hygiene” is probably my overall favorite to date both musically and lyrically. If for some reason you’ve never heard them it’s upbeat and melodic post-hardcore rock with gruff vocals and clever lyrics often about sad and fucked up people, a modern take on the sounds of groups like Seaweed, Rival Schools (if they were heavier), and current contemporaries like Militarie Gun.
CHAT PILE have also made an excellent second record that takes the blueprint of their initial LP “God’s Country” and just continues on that path with “Cool World”. The only real difference being a stronger/louder recording. And like some of their other recordings they use the same exact layout style as before. But something they have slowly leaned into more, which I can totally appreciate, is the oddly melodic, almost new wave, sorts of shimmering guitar leads that share space with the crushing barbaric bass/rhythm. Sure, you could hear some of that stuff on their last LP, but they made it a bit more front and center on the split with Nerver and that continues on a number of tracks here like “Shame”, “Tape”, and the mechanized, futuristic shimmer of “Frownland”. What is missing here compared to their last outing is the lack of pushing the envelope. “God’s Country” had the spoken word horror show of “I Don’t Care if I Burn” and the extended closing freakout of “grimace_smoking_weed.jpeg”. “Cool World” is just track after track of bangers. I’m not complaining, they just went for what they excel at so it’s a satisfying listen front to back. Bonus points for putting Rush lyrics on the record matrix. No one does matrix etchings anymore, it’s truly a lost hidden gem on records.
Next, we have a new release from JAYE JAYLE. Jaye Jayle has the unique trick of being able to shapeshift into whatever the project wants to be, and yet still somehow sound distinctive. It probably helps that with Evan Patterson being the driving force behind the music there’s going to be a hint of familiarity whether he’s playing with other people or solo. On, “A Blue Bird Cage” he’s operating solo and re-doing six songs from across the Jaye Jayle catalog with just a guitar, his voice, and some effects pedals. But hey, with a loop and delay pedal you can put down a rhythm and just play over it. Sounds simple, right? Maybe. But will it sound good? In this case, yeah, this stuff sounds awesome. I’m tempted to take these versions over the original versions. I’m always interested in what Evan/Jaye Jayle comes up with and these desolate and sparse meditations may be minimal but still stick in my head and swim around rent free.
I’m really happy to see that YUVEES finally released their new album, “Dead Keys”, after teasing it for so long and hit with a number of delays. They had a couple earlier EPs that got the buzz going, and this is the real, deal first long player from them. But just as they were really starting to take off here in Portland they went and moved across the country to continue the band elsewhere justas the record finally became available. They are forgiven though because this thing just rules. Yuvess play super catchy post-punk that drifts between Devo-esque weirdo pop and more noisy spazz outs (“Running” and “Opposite Day” stand out) reminiscent of stuff like USA Nails, even with one creepy Sonic Youth-inspired head trip (“Plywood Windows”). I’m always a sucker for bands that incorporate catchy bass lines that lay the groundwork for guitars to kind of go off (and sometimes saxophones too) and make all sorts of weird sounds. Add all that to alternating male/female vocals and you got a winner here. So listen up East Coasters- you see these cats around, make sure you treat ‘em right when you invite them to play your town.
Moving along, I couldn’t quite tell if Chris Spencer delving into HUMAN IMPACT a few years back was just a one-off project, or something more serious. Featuring half of Cop Shoot Cop their initial offering, I felt, was a bit lacking despite the formidable players involved. It sort of seemed like they were searching for their sound despite recording a full length record. But that lineup was not to last and instead this is now essentially the lineup of the current (playing the past?) Unsane with one guy from Cop Shoot Cop providing samples, textures, synths, and other various sounds. And on this new offering, “Gone Dark” it sounds basically like Unsane with some samples, textures, synths, and various other sounds. I shouldn’t complain. After all, Unsane with some added texture does sound cool. This record does sound cool. Maybe it’s what ‘Unsane’ should be, rather than rehashing the past- moving forward with a killer lineup, a new name, and a variation on the sound
I caught wind of this Southern U.S. band awhile back with their last release and it kind of gave off early Unwound vibes to me. It was fine for what they were going for, but I gotta say, SPLIT SILK have given us a new EP that significantly ups the ante with stronger songwriting and a bigger sound. “Bitter”s opening title track is a bit more aggressive and offers a big post-hardcore hook in the chorus while the second song, “Glimmer” is slower, more melancholy, and yes, captures that Unwound quiet-loud-quiet strange melody oh so well (that I suppose owes a bit to Sonic Youth too). The band round things out with a pair of live songs, both culled from their last release, which capture a kind of live energy that differentiates it from the studio recording.
Finally, I’m going to spend way more time talking about how interesting I find the art and story behind this record than the actual music on it. That’s not to say the music doesn’t hold up. I’ve seen this live and as simplistic and barbaric as it may sound on record trust me when I say on stage (or floor) it’s a primal display of total aggression and chaos. So on their third LP, “Freedom Sweet Freedom”, REGIONAL JUSTICE CENTER kind of fulfill a promise made from the get-go. The project started as drummer/vocalist Ian Shelton’s protest against his own brothers incarceration and the system that incarcerated him. Now his brother is out of prison and is co-vocalist/co-lyricist on this record. I find that fascinating. Additionally you get another dose of Mark McCoy’s layout and design (which has adorned other RJC records). His style is bananas- various photo-collage images altered but so realistic as to make you question the bizarre nature in which they exist and if they could actually be real scenarios. So yeah, ‘what about the music?’, you ask (if you’re unfamiliar): a dozen hardcore rippers packed into 15 scant minutes that toe the line between powerviolence and beatdown primitivism. While each song barely scrapes the one-minute mark and tends to follow a similar formula throughout (super fast part, ultra slow and simple breakdown part) it’s honest. It says exactly what needs to be said, be it issues of incarceration, the stigma of criminality following one around indefinitely, or getting out of the system and not looking back.
