THE LAST REVIEWS YOU'LL READ THIS YEAR, THANKFULLY

 Seriously, all these damn opinions!  It just makes you want to puke.  Still, I feel compelled to write about the stuff I come across whether it's solicited, or if it's just something I think people ought to give some attention to.  But that ought to come as no great epiphany at this point.  Here's to closing out a weird year where I'm noticing that like a shit ton of great EPs were put out there.  Year-end list is coming next.

BASHFORD, “Greener Grasses”

I’m nothing if not brutally honest.  There’s a bunch of stuff on here that sounds just like Nirvana “Bleach” if it were a bit less engaging.  And there’s some stuff on here that sounds like butt rock.  And this band is like five albums in nearly as many years.  There’s no doubt an appealing rawness to their sound when they’re on and for like the first 30 seconds of half these songs I’m ready to jump in, but then it just sputters out into rather hackneyed songwriting. (BigNeck Records)

 

BEAUTY PILL, “Instant Night” 12” EP

From one of the most interesting groups to make music over the last 10-15 years Beauty Pill present another EP while many of us fervently await a new full length.  The title track starts the record off with collaborator Erin Nelson supplying soaring vocals over a BP trademark of playful instrumentation that bleeds into euphoric bliss and an additional trick of somehow maintaining a beat without once using percussion.  Bass-heavy drones at certain points fill in the gaps.  A lot of BP material is difficult to describe as they utilize such a wide range of instruments and production techniques to mold something entirely unique and “Instant Night” (the song) will certainly go on to stand out as one of their better songs that work into that semi-indescribable brilliance.  A short instrumental interlude comes next with snappy, jazzy drumming and a pretty jingle atop it before the funky, “You Need a Better Mind” rolls in and honestly, if you’re not bobbing your head or straight up shaking your butt to this you got problems.  Primary composer/ringleader Chad Clark uses his delicate and smooth voice to bring the song a relative calm amongst the calamity while a background chorus chants the songs title repeatedly.  Finally, there’s a remix of “You Need a Better Mind” and oh how I dread remixes.  They’re usually just a lazy dissection of a song with a bad techno beat over it and a waste of time.  At least with this one Beauty Pill attempts to maintain the core of the song but adding a quick beat to it, changing the funk style of the actual version.  It feels like background music to the scene in Akira where Kanada visits the arcade in the middle of the day when no one else is around.  So in all takeaway number one- what does Beauty Pill sound like exactly?  Imagine De La Soul being covered by Laurie Anderson being backed by Sly and the Family Stone… in the future.  Takeaway number two- give us a damn new full length already.  (Northern SpyRecords)

 

ENGINE KID, “Special Olympics” flexi 7”

As a hardcore kid I’ll always associate this band with releasing an album through Revelation and how that just never made much sense.  I never got to see them, but they were apparently unbearably loud, even though much of their music then was melodic and wandering.  But knowing what I know now, it makes sense how loud they were (members would go on to form Sunn 0))) and I see why Revelation was interested in them (members were in Brotherhood and there was a Sunny Day Real Estate-adjacent connection).  And now I understand what Engine Kid were going for- Slint as filtered through big, burly Pacific Northwest grunge thunder.  They were definitely kind of their own thing.  It’s just that in 1995 I had no idea what to do with it.  And I think neither did most other people who heard this band.  So maybe it’s good fortune that the band finds themselves recording some songs again for the heck of it and gives us an EP to chew on now that culture has caught up.  Earlier this year they dropped an impressive box set collection of all their material so I guess there’s a little momentum going here.  This has three short burners that are heavier than anything I recall them doing in the past and it all sound like Torche going bananas.  The fourth track sounds more like Engine Kid that I am familiar with- a long winding passage with sampled vocals, followed by a single heavy section, and back to the quiet stuff.  Apparently this is finished versions of songs they were working on before they broke up some 25 years ago.  Comes on a flexi record for all you lovers of music pressed onto a sheet.  (Southern Lord)

 

EYE FLYS, “Exigent Circumstance” EP

I’ve been in and out with paying attention to this band.  I have no good reason why, they rule pretty hard.  Their first offering was kind of a bit too on the nose for me with the outright Melvins worship, but it was still good.  They did an LP that saw them come into their own a bit more, and now we have this EP that was not quite a surprise release, but it did sort of sneak up all quick-like.  And heck, why not just throw down four new tracks of ear-hammering sludgy riff worship to make sure people know you’re still doing the damn thing?  They come out the gate with a track that could have been an outtake from Crowbar “Odd Fellows Rest” if I didn’t know better and then proceed to drag what’s left of your bloodied corpse through a tar pit with “Dead Larvae”.  “Exigent Circumstance” has an almost Coalesce vibe with it’s noisy cavalcade off feedback and off-timed riffs heaped atop a ongoing chugging riff keeping things centered.  The EP closes out with “Circular Motion”, which has a bit more of bro-y southern riff, but repeatedly clobbers you over the head with it for three minutes.  In all, it’s 11 minutes of heavy damage with a screened b-side for you collector types.  (ClosedCasket Activities)

 

GENOCIDE PACT, s/t

I’m by no means an expect of any sort on death metal.  I occasionally dip my toes in to check some out, and usually I’m good for a few songs before I’m done.  You could say I’m not even a casual listener.  I do recall seeing Genocide Pact once back when they were probably just getting going and even then their punk and hardcore infused death metal was pretty easy to grasp.  On their new record they seem to not have deviated too hard from that initial plan.  Genocide Pact are not trying to be overtly flashy with wild technical prowess, though you will find ripping solos here and there.  They are playing dirgy, grimy, filth-strewn death metal informed by a punk background, frequently shifting pace between plodding Obituary-style groove (“Mutilated Vision”) and more grind-y/faster paced Napalm Death-styled beatings (“Deprive/Degrade”).  But hey, like I said, I’m no expert.  Those just looking for something to melt the sleeves off your shirt (if you’re listening to this, why would you have sleeves on your shirt anyway?) and cause your jacket to sprout Repulsion patches will be pleased, those looking for a re-invention of the wheel look elsewhere.  (Relapse)

 

HELMET, “Live and Rare”

Having seen Helmet not that long ago I can say they still sound great.  But, to me, nothing will really compare to their classic lineup.  I think each of those players in that initial lineup were astounding in their own right as musicians, regardless of how much of the music was composed by Page Hamilton (not too shabby of a musician himself).  So I’m happy to report that this live record is two sets- one from CBGBs in 1990, early in the band’s formation.  The other is from an Australian festival in 1993, quite possibly at the band’s apex of hype.  And both sets are the band in their original lineup.  I always love hearing documentation of this sort- how a band sounded early on, how they were captured in a live environment, especially when it’s a band as important as Helmet.  The CBs set- from some sparsely attended weeknight calendar filler- somehow sounds better and more vicious than the stadium-sized, professionally recorded festival set at a point where the band was touring non-stop.  Chalk it up to a group that rehearsed fervently and were hungry to demolish audiences.  This is pre- “Strap It On” Helmet, though you get a primitive version of “Murder” (which manages to come off as even more grating and disturbing than the studio version) and a slightly less ominous performance of “Sinatra”.  The rest is fast-paced crushing noise played as loud as humanly possible.  It’s the singles stuff, not on their actual records.  The festival set shows a band that now has nice gear and playing out primarily “Meantime” material (as well as their go-to cover of the Melvins “Oven”).  Maybe it’s the people recording it, maybe it’s Hamilton’s tipsy demeanor (in the linear notes he admits to knocking back a few too many before playing), but there’s whole sections of guitar missing on “Give It” (probably one of their best songs ever) and “Blacktop” that are sort of essential to the songs that’s a bit of a letdown.  The rest of it sounds pretty good.  I tend to dig live albums for the warts and all aspect that bands don’t need to sound perfect live, and that’s part of the charm.  However, with a touring history as long as Helmet has had over the last 30 years one would think they could pull a live set from the vault that’s a little better. (earMUSIC)

 

POMELO, “Validations”

Rochester, NY trio Pomelo presents their debut full length that shows them flexing their art-punk brains to give the listener 11 tracks that fall somewhere between the taut post-punk of bands like Stuck with the DC-leaning math rock of groups like Faraquet if they were a little less playful and more somber.   These songs primarily move at a slower pace, bringing plenty of breathing room to emphasize the studious interplay between guitars, vocals, and rhythm but keeping things far from dull.  Sure, they will draw some fans whose noses are permanently up their own ass, but I’d like to think some folks who are just into good, thoughtful, and carefully constructed math rock can easily enjoy this as well.  There are 11 songs here for you to decide for yourself. (self-released)

 

RID OF ME, “Traveling”

Philly’s Rid Of Me has really made a heck of a full length with “Traveling”.  Comprised of a few re-recordings of several songs from their various demos, as well as a clutch of brand new songs, it makes for a cohesive whole worthy of repeated listens.  While initially this band had the feeling of a low-key project to do when members weren’t off doing the similarly-minded Low Dose, it seems that now Rid Of Me is the main group for the songwriting team of Mike McGuiness and Itarya Rosenburg.  Starting as a trio (rounded out by former Fight Amp alum Mike Howard on drums) they also enlisted second guitarist Reuben Polo (Soul Glo) to fill out the sound and this may be his first real deal recording with the band?  Either way, the record sounds like a band that has gone from project to the real thing and it shows.  The slightly wistful post-punk vibes on the first couple tracks come off as a nice addition, but ultimately the DNA of filthy rock stemming from the Fight Amp/Low Dose resume cannot be ignored and is present in some way on all these songs.  Things are at their most cacophonous on the raging “Broke Shit”, which takes the spot of my favorite song here.  Bassist/vocalist Rosenburg has really come a long way with utilizing her voice to easily shift between going with the melody to add emotional texture and screaming to fuck with yr skull, frequently blending both to great effect.  Though smoking is pretty gross I gotta say I love the cover of this record, which kind of acts as a metaphor for the album as a whole- it’s an artful depiction of various pictures of the members hands all holding cigarettes.  So ya know, artistically engaging, but still kind of gross and ugly. (Ghost IsClear/ Knife Hits)

 

SUNSTROKE, “Cryin’ Wolves”

I don’t think I’m out of line to say the art the band is using for this new single is directly an homage to Melinda Beck-illustrated “Dine Alone” 7” from Quicksand.  It looks almost exactly like it, and while I’d take a guess that the members of this band are fans and their music could presumably fall under the vast umbrella of ‘post-hardcore’, they don’t sound all that much like Quicksand.  Sunstroke fall somewhere within the upbeat, melodic sound of current groups like One Step Closer and the rowdy, swirling hardcore rock sound of past bands like Swiz.  “Cryin’ Wolves” is a stand-alone single that follows up on a another single from a few months back (“I Wanna Be Ignored”) where they did lathe cuts, which seems a bit wasteful to me.  After all, it’s tough to justify paying nearly $20 for a single song on a crappy format (lathes), which is what the plan seems to be for this single as well (which is currently just digital).  Maybe waiting and putting both songs on a single record would be a bit more convenient.  Still, I like this band a lot and think they’re making really cool music so at the very least it’s worth checking them out.  (New Morality)

BANDCAMP DAY DEALS AND NEWS- DECEMBER 2021

 

Hey, it's another bandcamp day and I got some deals to do, as well as some news on upcoming and current projects.

So since there's a certain holiday coming up go and treat yourself, or treat someone you want to show the true meaning of good music (or, Christmas...  semantics).

# 1- 3 LPs FOR $20- PUNK DEAL!

Bringing it back since it was popular last month.  With this one you get LPs from DIALYSIS, LIKE WOLVES, and ALPHA HOPPER   https://hexrecords.bandcamp.com/merch/3-lps-for-20-punk-deal-2

#2- 3LP s FOR $20- RIFFS DEAL!

Three LPs full of riffs to bury you under.  Cozy up to these suckers:  GRIZZLOR, "Destructoid", NULL, "Act Of Love", and OAK AND BONE, s/t  https://hexrecords.bandcamp.com/merch/3-lps-for-20-riffs-deal

#3- BOTH USA NAILS LPs FOR $25!

I put out two of their records.  Get them and then seek out the rest of their catalog.  You get "Character Stop" on clear pink and "Life Cinema" on clear red (second press).  Beautiful noisy post-punk recklessness from the UK.  https://hexrecords.bandcamp.com/merch/both-usa-nails-lps-for-25

#4- 10 CDs FOR $25!

Bringing this back too.  10 random CDs from the catalog sent to you.  It would be easier to tell me which ones you don't want.  Feel free to air your grievances.  https://hexrecords.bandcamp.com/merch/10-cds-for-25

#5- ALL DIGITAL SALES GOING TO CHARITY.

Any digital purchase made today will be donated to Out To Pasture Animal Sanctuary here in Oregon.  They do great work taking in and caring for rescued, abandoned, and injured animals from factory farms, hoarders, and other crappy situations.  They do the good work so let's help them out.

OK, news both good and bad:

Bad news- A lot of people have been asking about the new GRIZZLOR LP and where it's at.  I don't know how long it is going to take.  I fully expected to have it back by now but like basically all records at press right now it's taking forever.  I'm sorry.  On the good side, I live very close to the press and I'm keeping tabs on progress.  But I don't expect it before the end of the year.  I'll keep you all updated.

Good news- as you may have seen earlier this week, we will be releasing a full length from Allentown, PA-based WIPES!  They're rippers, let me tell ya.  Current/ex- Tile dudes making that ungodly agitated noise competing with crazy riffs.  They have a few songs on their own bandcamp so give 'em a listen before they head into the studio to record their full length: https://wipes.bandcamp.com/

WIPES TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM THROUGH HEX RECORDS

 

Wipes is a new band from the Allentown/Bethlehem, PA area that remains quite familiar. That might be because the band started as almost an off-shoot from Tile, who have been blasting eardrums for well over 10 years. When Tile’s guitarist began taking on more adult responsibilities and had less time to devote to the band remaining members Ray Gurz (bass, vocals) and Michael Dumoff (drums) began jamming with guitarist Matt Molchany, who had already been a long time friend and fan of the band. In fact, he was responsible for recording and engineering both of Tile’s full length albums.
Thus Wipes was born and began writing music at a furious pace.
Soon the band demoed a few songs, putting up one on their bandcamp page just to give people an idea of what was going on. Not long after the band did a very limited lathe cut 7” on Limited Appeal Records with two more tracks showcasing what they were up to.
In mid-December Wipes will record their debut full-length “Making Friends” at guitarist Matt Molchany’s Shards Studio.
Prepare for more of the familiar noise served up by Tile- heavy aggression visualized as an abandoned quarry filling up with mercury- but with the added fresh set of ears of a new member to add additional colors to the calamitous beatings. Get yourself ready for Wipes.
The band will begin playing out live in 2022 and Hex Records will release their full length. Stay tuned for more.

https://wipes.bandcamp.com/ 

NEW REVIEWS FOR NOVEMBER YA BUMS.

 Got a bit of variety here for you all.  A couple big things dropped that I'm sure you've already listened to repeatedly and a couple other things that you might not know about and that's always the point here.  Get into new shit.  I got nothing else witty to impart.  Buy some records and hope that you get them someday.

CERCE, “Cowboy Music”

This was a bit of a surprise because I thought this Boston-area band had split up several years ago.  Cerce was a young band that had a bit of a burst back about 10 years ago and then sort of fizzled away almost as quickly as they popped up.  They mixed short, raging riff-fueled hardcore punk that leaned slightly metallic but more on the fastcore side with vocals that ranged from sort of bratty to screaming bloody murder.  They had a well-received seven inch, and then a couple follow up demos, toured regionally, and then split up.  However, it seems that now they’re sort of an on-again, off-again thing as one of the members is an engineer at God City, thus making studio access to exercise any new and deranged ideas considerably easier I can imagine.  So, seemingly out of nowhere, “Cowboy Music” arrives a few years later and tosses out 11 new tracks of material that sounds pretty similar to what the band had been doing from the jump.  The vocals this time around lean less on all-out screaming and stick to mostly the shouted/bratty side, while lyrically it appears to be a bit more fun and not as deadly serious as past stuff, though familiar topics from past releases revolving around manipulation, coercion, and relationship abuse still linger in certain songs.  Musically the band is on point as ever and things sound considerably better, given guitarist Zach Weeks growing expertise within the studio they’re able to get a worthy recording to adequately match the harsh musical destruction going on.  This was a nice surprise.  (self-released)

 

DUMMY, “Mandatory Enjoyment”

This is such a nice breath of fresh air to listen to outside of the usual instrument abuse, screaming and yelling I’m generally harming my ears with.  Dummy hail from the LA area and play some very relaxed and breezy indie rock that incorporates a lot of different elements into their sonic stew.  Much of it has a very Stereolab feel to it, while the end of the record even reminds me of early Tortoise (probably because of the electronic stuff paired with what I think is a vibraphone?).  Whatever the case, it sounds really cool.  Throughout the record you get back and forth vocals, both male and female, that are light and airy amongst music that is frequently mellow, but generally has an upbeat tempo, sometimes motorik, sometimes relaxed.  A lot of this sounds like what a potential commercial in the 70’s trying to imagine a future technological utopia would commission for background music- “just write us peaceful future music that still shows how bold mankind can be!” Their last record displayed a similar course, but the experimentation with various sounds and instruments made it a bit less consistent.  I feel like this record achieves various experimentation while still sounding like the same band throughout its dozen tracks. (Trouble In Mind)

 

EVERY TIME I DIE, “Radical”

I understand that for a very prolific band like Every Time I Die waiting four years to release a new album must have been maddening.  And instead of tearing up stages across the world pretty much all the time, not playing a single show for well over a year probably led to an added level of Jack Torrence staring out into a wintery landscape with an axe and a head full of bad ideas sort of depravity.  So after this uncommon dry spell we get what could have probably been two full albums from the band in one.  “Radical”, with artwork as ugly as it gets (80’s Trapper Keeper enthusiasts will be stoked), is 16 full-on tracks of insanity from Buffalo’s finest purveyors of metallic hardcore.  Personally, it’s a bit too much for me.  Every Time I Die has never shied away from cramming a shit ton of ideas and riffs into a single song, along with vocalist Keith Buckley’s very wordy diatribes.  A full album of it tends to be almost overwhelming in it’s own right, but they typically make it work.  I think here 16 songs might be just a bit too much to handle.  It’s not to say they haven’t made another record of wild music and immensely impressive musicianship.  Fans will certainly be more than satisfied.  It’s just a bit too filling for me personally.  They could have shaved off a few tracks, slapped them on a separate EP, and all would be awesome.  And the tracks where they’re completely slaying it?  Oh, they’re fucking slaying it.  Buckley’s lyrics are possibly some of the most intense he’s ever written and I suppose if you’ve been through the wringer over the last couple years like our man has I’d be pretty bitter and angry too.  It’s a whole lot of ‘everything is awful’ and I’m particularly taken with the line “try loving man while fucking hating mankind” from “Desperate Pleasures”, one of the best on the record.  That song, along with “A Colossal Wreck” and “All This and War”, make a trifecta of the records most bruising moments.  However, later on in the record, particularly the last couple songs, it seems like a lot of ideas are being thrown into the stew and not exactly coming out entirely successful.  Or hell, maybe I’m just exhausted by that point.  The soundtrack to intentionally crashing your car into a fireworks factory. (Epitaph)

 

OVLOV, “Buds”

It’s been a few years since we heard from Ovlov.  They have already put out a couple wonderful loud and fuzzy records and on “Buds” that trend continues.  Quite honestly if you have enjoyed the band in the past you will be exceptionally pleased by this one as well, though I personally feel as if it’s a bit short compared to other outings.  But that’s a  minor gripe.  Each of the 8 tracks here are full of plaintive melodies, slacker-sung vocals, and giant, fuzzy bursts of distortion in each song.  If anything, the band just has an even better command of their abilities than in the past and it shows on the under-two-minute opener “Baby Shea” as they rip right into things.  “Eat More” follows up with a mid-tempo beat and light, airy guitars as main dude Steve Hartlett sings with background accompaniment by Alex Gehring, who offers up some spooky crooning later on as the guitars enter full-on distortion and scream away.  But I think my overall favorite track might be later on with “Cheer Up, Chihiro!” as it rumbles along with a heavy stoner sort of vibe for much of the song, has a big ‘ol fat chorus riff, and then breaks off out of nowhere into a wild saxophone solo about ¾ of the way through the song…  and I’m a sucker for saxophones in a non-ska context.  Yeah, I definitely love what they’re doing here.  You could say I Ov-love it.  Get it?  If you like Dino Jr but a bit more upbeat, crossed with a little Hum if they were more relaxed and less tone-obsessed you’d find Ovlov waiting in that space. (Exploding In Sound)

 

STRESS, “Across America”

My pals Tyler Farren and Matt Werts have been playing together in a million different bands over the last twenty years or so.  They’re always up to something and many of those bands they switch duties over who does what and the results are always entertaining.  For the last few years they have been doing a band called Stress and it’s very rooted in early 80’s hardcore.  It’s lo-fi sounding, raw, short, fast ridiculous songs that sound like everything is about to fall apart or blow up at any moment.  Like if any song actually made it past the two minute mark (one track just squeaks by) the whole thing might just explode.  So here you have it.  But I enjoy the fact that lyrically this is more pondering and being kind of wistful in a way, despite that Matt’s voice sounding like he’s being dragged by wolves.  Tracks like “Yep”, “Nope”, “Apple” and “Trains” have this simple kind of prose to them but it’s really engaging and totally out-of-character for what you’d expect things to sound like given the violent nature of the music.  You even get some interludes of the sounds of a trainyard just to make you think about becoming a hobo. (Sore Ear Collective)

 

WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE #1 by Matt Rosenberg and Tyler Boss

I don’t frequently do write ups on comics unless I think it’s really something worth adding to a bunch of yammering about records.  But I think this is an apt addition because not only is this team responsible for some other wonderful comics that give a lot of wink and nods to punk within their stories, but as some of you may have heard this series is offering limited split 7”s with each issue with musicians and bands giving exclusive tracks.  It’s not some hipster-come-lately gimmicky thing either.  Writer Matt Rosenberg used to run Red Leader Records back in the aughts and booked numerous punk shows in the NYC area before breaking into comics.  I don’t know Tyler Boss’ backstory but I absolutely love his art, which has a quality lying somewhere between Jamie Hernandez and Tim Sale.  But on to the book.  What’s happening here?  Well, there’s not a ton of info going into this first issue, but it seems it’s a sort of post-apocalyptic wasteland ordeal free of adults.  Gangs of teenagers have sectioned off into their own turfs and our main characters are holed up in an old record store as their base of operations.  How convenient for the end times!  So the obvious backgrounds of punk posters adorn their home base as they duke it out with a rival gang sporting pig masks due to accusations of a member trespassing on the other’s turf.  One of their own goes missing after this ordeal and that’s where things are left.  If you were lucky enough to score a record with this one (it was quite limited as I understand it) you are treated to Blake Schwarzenbach on one side and Joyce Manor on the other.  Next issue will be Screaming Females tearing it up with Worriers.  So yeah, stories featuring punk.  Heck, the title of this issue even comes from a Silent Majority album. (Image)

 

WIPES, “Dumpster” b/w “You’re the Boss” 7”

Wipes is a new band that came to be when two members of the Allentown-based crushers in Tile decided to keep some momentum going when their guitarist began to have more grown-up responsibilities happen.  So the other two guys hooked up with the person who recorded/engineered all the Tile material, who happens to be a pretty good guitarist as well!  Tile have been one of my favorite bands over the last several years as their records absolutely bury listeners under mountains of feedback, noise, riffs, and plenty of agitated shouting.  It’s truly glorious stuff.  What their incarnation as Wipes bring to the table is more of the same, but with a bit more playing around with some guitar effects, perhaps even a weird little melody here and there.  It makes for great listening and a slightly different approach than the non-stop shellshock Tile heaves at listeners.  Now I may be kind of wasting your time with this review since this particular record is a two song lathe cut that they only made just over 50 copies.  So unless you got in on this I’m pretty certain you won’t find a physical copy available anywhere.  But will these songs pop up online?  Who’s to say.  At the very least you can check out their bandcamp and hear stuff not on this record for yourself and then keep your ear to the ground for whatever sort of craziness they cook up next. (LimitedAppeal)

REVIEW DUMP FOR OCTOBER AND IT'S A GOOD ONE.

 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)

NO COAST FEST OCT. 1-3 WRAP-UP!

 

As life began to get a bit more back to normal around the Spring of this year shows and tours started popping up everywhere.  We all thought things were going to be A-OK right?  Ah, that was a really nice month or so wasn’t it?

That being said, the third iteration of the No Coast Fest in Texas seemed to be a solid option for a fun thing to do, even if it’s in Texas.

The initial lineup looked bonkers- a dream come true for noise rock heads and aficionados of weird, heavy music in general.

However, as society in general took a big dump on otherwise responsible types and set us all back to…  I don’t know… confusion and a lot of maybes about the safety of actually attending shows or counting on bands to be able to follow through with tours the lineup for this shindig shifted considerably.

I already had my plane tickets and a clean bill of health so I wasn’t going to back out.  If anything, I could just have myself a weird adventure.  And I did!  So kudos to uncertainty.

 

I arrived in Austin a couple days early because I was connecting with the Exhalants dudes, who were set to play No Coast and figured I would ride up with them.  Additionally, one of my best friends from childhood (and throughout high school) lived in Austin and we hadn’t seen one another in at least 5 years.  And I’d also been in Austin exactly one other time to play a show on tour and that was 15 years ago.  So it was high time to see what all the fuss was about regarding this supposed ‘live music capital of the United States’, as well as sample the massive gentrification that likely has mowed down the local culture like a reaper’s scythe across the Red River and surrounding community.

 

My man Steve picked me up from the airport and put me up for a couple days while my old pal Nate showed me around town to see the well-known End Of An Ear record store, a great vegan lunch spot called Project Pollo, and a little bakery with the ‘wink, wink, nod, nod’ name Zucchini Kill (complete with a hearse out front stating ‘our cupcakes are to die for’).  Let me tell you this- Austin has way too many strip malls literally everywhere.  Just thought I’d put that out there.

This is Austin, not No Coast
 

But you came here to read about bands and stuff so I’ll get to that.

On Friday I set out with the Exhalants dudes, who all traveled separately for logistical reasons, up to Denton for the first night of the fest.  Texas got itself a traffic problem because that stretch from Austin to Denton should have been around 3 hours and took like 5.  For whatever reason I did not blow my top, which I’m prone to do in traffic and it’s probably because I wasn’t driving.

 

So we show up in Denton and people are just loading in.  For those unfamiliar, Denton is a small college town between Fort Worth and Dallas.  It’s quiet, quaint, extremely chill and is host to a music school, which lends itself to being amicable to live events.  It doesn’t seem to fit the stereotype of Texas as some backwards hick-filled, God-fearing conservative hellscape.  It just seems chill and easy going. 

Additionally, the venue- Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Space- is an incredible spot with an indoor stage that has a big wide opening to a giant patio space with another stage, as well as being close enough to the downtown area to be super walkable, but situated between railroad tracks and a concrete factory so as to leave absolutely no one to complain about excessive noisy racket.  It was awesome.

Rubber Gloves, the back view
 

I quickly met a few people I’d only talked to online up to that point, as well as saw a few familiar faces I hadn’t seen in a long time.  The Grizzlor dudes traveled all the way from Connecticut to play and I hadn’t seen them in well over four years.  Plus, their new record (which I released, ahem) had just come out today.  So it was a pretty special event.

 

Grizzlor being Grizz-lords

Things started off not long after with openers Sub-Sahara, who I was wholly unfamiliar with.  They had a sort of post-punk vibe going on with very topical lyrics and weren’t afraid to talk about them between songs, which is always cool with me.  The bounced between rhythmic grooves and abrasive chaos and it was a good way to set things off.

Moon Pussy, out from Denver,was next.  I was a little slow to catch on to them but once I gave their record some attention it stood out pretty strong.  Seeing them live was interesting as it provided some insight into how they get all those weird sounds and effects from their guitars… in part because the guitarist built his own instrument and added plenty of bells and whistles to it.  Pretty neat!

Moon Pussy- a name social media probably gets frustrated with
 

Salvation from Chicago followed and did their thing of crazy heavy rock with a lot of leads and a weird, unsettling swagger.  Definitely greasy.

So I’m totally partial here but Grizzlor followed and put on a hell of a set.  I know a lot of people in attendance were very excited for them since the band had never made their way this far South, or West.  This was my first time seeing them play with their drummer Warren and it was probably the best time seeing Grizzlor overall.  They were incredibly loud, crazy energetic, and sounded super tight.  They played a bunch of stuff from “Hammer Of Life” as well as sprinkling in a few older tracks as well.  I know they’re supposed to be really anti-social types but I may have had the longest in person conversation with Vic ever at that show at over 10 minutes.  It was beautiful.

This was my first time (since I think they hardly ever leave Austin) seeing Easy Prey and they may have had my overall favorite set of the weekend just because of how wild they were and how much their music kicks ass.  It’s definitely a thing of hardcore kids playing noise rock… so too hardcore for the noisy boys but too noisy for the HC sticklers.  I feel you.  This is my life.  Also, dudes had a solid shirt game going.  When your members can sport both classic Napalm Death t’s as well as a Garfield shirt, I mean, you gotta love that.

So good they got two photos- Exhalants
 

As much as Easy Prey kicked everyone’s butt the room truly filled up for Exhalants.  They’ve received a great deal of praise over the last year for “Atonement”, which was well deserved.  It’s a great record.  Personal preference aside, it was easy to see that most everyone present was very excited for them.  And by god, it was one of the loudest sets I’d seen in a long time, completely blowing my ears out in the best way possible.  I hadn’t seen them since before they recorded the LP so I was catching a lot of these songs for the first time and I was so satisfied and blown away by the volume and heaviness in which they were played I found myself at several points being physically pushed back a bit by the sound and excitedly ‘whooooooah!’-ing during songs. 

And, of course, everyone was very interested to see what was up with this iteration of Unsane who closed out the night.  I have seen Unsane many times in my life and they have always been amazing.  However, as the band officially split up a couple years ago one had to wonder what this was all about.  So main dude Chris Spencer found himself living in Texas and Eric Cooper, a former band mate from another project (and an arm’s length resume of other awesome bands) also lived there, as well as drummer extraordinaire Jon Syverson (Daughters) residing nearby.  Spencer had recently recovered long lost demos from early Unsane sessions and finally released them to the public.  Since the original Unsane lineup is either musically retired, or passed away recruiting these two musical talents to perform some of these old songs just for fun seems like a fitting and respectable tribute.  Not so much a reunion, just a worthy version of a thing that would be nearly impossible to do otherwise.  And they sounded perfect.  Syverson played with the intensity and determination of Vinnie Signorelli mixed effortlessly with the late Charlie Ondras chaotic swing.  Cooper already had a bad ass bass tone so he was a shoe in who energetically bounced around on stage to fill the spot otherwise commanded by Dave Curran (and Pete Shore before him).  And Chris Spencer remains Chris Spencer, just as vitriolic as ever.  They played mostly tracks from the demos record, but threw in a few other random songs I was happy to hear- “Body Bomb”, “Committed”, “Scrape”, and a couple others. 

 

Unsane, meet 'Unsane'

The next day I had mostly to myself since nothing was getting started until the evening and I was happy enough to spend it wandering around town solo.  I love towns/cities that are walkable versus just driving all the time so I must have schlepped a solid 7 or 8 miles through the day to check out a wildly overpriced record/used book store, a vegan taco joint, a great little coffee shop, and stumbled upon a massive pro-choice rally/march in progress outside city hall.  Not a bad day!  Oh, and it’s still totally summer out here as opposed to the rainy fall weather that has suddenly engulfed Portland that I am accustomed to.

People get pissed, so people march
 

However, upon the start of day 2 the lineup on this particular night had varied so much over the last few weeks that I had to basically just show up and see what was happening and go from there.  To say I was a bit let down by some of my favorite bands canceling for reasons outside their power is a bit of an understatement, but some of the replacements proved to be a good bit of fun so whatever.

Whep opened things up and played a really fun set of tight and wild sludgy rock.  There were a few others that did their thing in the mean time but I got a bit caught up in conversation with others, as well as getting some food so I missed out a bit. 

And, if I may put in an aside here, when I think of the noise rock scene and food it’s often an image of Waffle House (or other grease ball establishment with plenty of meat) chased with hard liquor or beer.  I don’t roll with any of that so I often feel like a bit of an outlier.  However, set up on the patio on the venue was a full-on vegan pop-up with some of the best food truck style dishes I’d had in awhile (this coming from a spoiled Portlander residing in the vegan capital of the USA).  Ah, noise rock, you’ve truly entered the 21^st century.  AmRep would be so disappointed in us all.  But I was a happy camper for sure.

Easy Prey don't take it easy
 

OK, back to fest stuff.  I’d also like to add the idea of this being a ‘fest’ but there were really just a couple hundred folks present total.  Like, the perfect sized crowd really.  It wasn’t a huge event.  Most everyone was masked up all night, things were safe, the promoters did a fantastic job of ensuring safety protocols were followed… it definitely put me at ease.

 

OK, so a last minute band addition happened and a duo called Honduh Daze played.  I had no idea what to expect.  Their whole shtick was ‘dealership punk’ and goofing on the Honda corporation.  It was wacky.  They both dressed in Honda uniforms, spouted off radio-ad styled skits between songs about getting free key chains, not being sellouts (yet obligated to give the sales pitches), and making everyone in the audience sign up for a lease.  The songs were blistering mindfucks of caveman beats and guitar-pedal overload noise freakouts.  It was bizarre and wonderful.  The best part:  generally if you’re going to have a gimmick-y project this ridiculous it’s contained to an in-joke between friends who play twice a year locally and that’s it.  These cats were ON TOUR.  Like, doing this every night.  How’s that for commitment to a thing?

 

Dug is a duo, formerly of Minneapolis riff-masters Buildings.  Dug is something different- droning amp worship that is typically not my thing.  I’ve listened to a bit of Dug and personally I just don’t find that sort of obsessiveness over playing a single note for several minutes with an occasional scream to be all that interesting.  But I’ll give ‘em this- watching Dug live they definitely added in some chugging Sumac-styled parts and Harvey Milk-inspired sludge, and they seemed to be having so much fun doing it.  So that really changed my mind on it.  Sure, I’m not all that keen on droning, but watching a person having a ball while playing it brings about a bit of joy in an otherwise sullen subgenre.  Good on them.

I also cannot say their name without thinking of the old The State sketch show character of the same name.

Bummer, not bummed at all
 

Alright, Bummer came up and totally deported everyone to riff country without hesitation.  I haven’t seen these dudes in a few years and my neck is still sore from too much headbanging.  It was joyous and heavy with plenty of joking on the audience, fucking around, and killing everyone with riffs.  No one survived so Season To Risk followed up and played to no one because we were all dead.  Just kidding.  I think everyone was just tired by that point and Season To Risk really did play to very few people.  I stuck around for a few songs but called it a night soon after.

 

I didn’t go to the Sunday show.  Honestly, none of the bands were of all that much interest to me, with the exception of a curiosity about Chat Pile.  Apparently the whole thing was moved to the outdoor stage and watching a couple post-fest videos of them it looked as if they killed it. 

I walked out to Spiral Diner in the morning and had one of the most pleasant outdoor breakfasts ever before leaving town, heading back to Austin and chilling out for awhile before I had to catch a flight back to Portland at like 5 in the morning on Monday.  Airlines and airports blow, but the trip overall was a whirlwind of activity and noise.  I can hang alright with that.

Here’s to hoping No Coast continues on with a quality set up and only grows in stature to an event people from all over can convene upon and enjoy!