Despite their debut Braille Animal coming out in 2008, I’d never heard of Buildings up until last year. It may or may not have been the best time to discover them, since just as soon as I had a chance to listen to Braille Animal I was made aware that they had a new album coming out in only a matter of a month or two. I’m not sure if that complicates things sometimes, but the immediate reaction is always the more the merrier. Their debut was a pretty solid offering of noisy inspired rock with some Midwestern influences thrown in for good measure. That’s not all surprising though given their locale of Minneapolis, which as many know, has a rather significant history with that type of music. By and large Buildings are an obvious product from which they are from.
As far as Melt, Cry, Sleep goes, the band hasn’t necessarily changed their sound much but definitely have steered further towards the noisier side of things, with a more noticeable influence closer to Jesus Lizard…particularly on the track “I Don’t Love My Dog Anymore”. I like the fact that the production isn’t super slick, leaving it a rougher aesthetic that bands of the same style occasionally forgo, which I’ll never quite understand. In a way these guys are pursuing a similar type of path as Young Widows, at least with the first couple albums I’d say, but with an increased habit of latching onto bigger riffs at times. Not sure how much further they can go with this sound, but I’m up for hearing more. Overall, good stuff if this is your sort of thing.
Buildings – Wrong Cock (stream)
Anyone that wish to pick this up can do so by hitting up Doubleplusgood for the CD version or the recently resurrected Cash Cow Records for the LP. And of course, there is always Bandcamp for the digital only folks out there.
Happened upon the St. Louis trio of Britches awhile back when they had a five song online demo up for download. Admittedly I didn’t give them much thought afterward, but then this album showed up late last year and happily gave them another go around. At the very least the demo was oddball enough to warrant it. They seem to have a recurring thing with incorporating the word “demo” into the name of their releases, this one being Demonstration and the previous release titled Democracy. I assume that these aren’t just cleverly named demos though. Really, this is pretty much a different band than what I remember listening to some time ago when it sounded more like some guys just screwing around and being outwardly weird. With Demonstration the group sounds far more focused; taking a big step away from the simple basement sort of jamming and creating a distinct mood/vibe with a mixture of psych and abrasive noise experimentation. When I received this, it was described to me as being a type of “noisy rock”, which certainly rings true as far as the noisy part goes. However, Britches rock more so in the way of bands like Mouthus and later era Sightings choose to rock. They don’t necessarily achieve the twisting mind altering levels like either those bands tend to, however are certainly operating within the same type of dark and post apocalyptic world. It should be interesting to hear these guys moving forward.
Britches – We’re Both Ready [MP3]
If you’re interested in just checking the entire thing out, the band has it available for free download via their Bandcamp.
More noise from Finland based monsters Throat. This time throwing two new 7-inches at us, one being a split with fellow Finnish sludge mongers Fleshpress. I can’t say I’ve really given much of a listen to Fleshpress in the past, but what I have heard was some incredibly slowed down and exhausting doom/sludge material on their LP Pillars. So, it goes without saying, I was a bit surprised to hear them on this split coming out of the gate with a more traditional type of noise-rock stomp. Solid stuff, and something that will probably force me to scour their back catalog some more. The Throat side of things is some pretty standard stuff from them, in terms of what their past discography has to offer. It gets into a rather Unsane influenced groove towards the end of the track. Each track here from the bands are untitled by the way, with nearly as little identifying which side is which on the actual single. So people who are unfamiliar with both may have a difficult time differentiating the two bands on this split. A co-release from Kaos Kontrol and Kult of Nihilow.
Fleshpress – Untitled (stream)
Throat – Untitled (stream)
The second of the two singles, is strictly a Throat release titled Pee, out now on Kaos Kontrol. Featuring two more new songs from the band, side-a houses the track “Prison Shower” and turns up the hate some. Not that they’ve really ever lacked in the department of bad attitude, but “Prison Shower” seems to be really channeling it hard. The flip of “Pet Peeves” mixes it up some, and even midway through kind of adopts some classic rock ‘n roll riffing before dropping out completely and pounding out a slower monotonous sludge like riff surrounded by high pitched feedback for the last minute or so. Definitely dig that track and may be the winner of the two here. Generally into what these guys are doing and it’s no different on this release. Fans of the band will probably want to grab this.
Throat – Pet Peeves (stream)
I believe both of these releases are available through Kaos Kontrol, however the split it is also available through Kult of Nihilow if you can’t happen to find it there.
It’s odd to be able to describe a record like this as being “lively”, but as bleak and gloomy as Bestial Mouths appear to be here on their debut LP Hissing Veil, they play with a type of energy that throws most of what people have come to expect about goth/death-rock for a gigantic loop. A large chunk of this is due to drummer Ebrahim Saleh’s frenetic style often clashing alongside a lurching type of synth based melody, which in itself nearly gives this genre bending attributes. All of this adds up as a huge platform for vocalist Lynette Cerezo to greatly expand her theatrics and likely terrify those in the process. Where most bands would be constricted by the dreary and plodding pacing that typically gets adapted, Cerezo is able to go completely wild with with a variety of wailing and hair raising screeching/screams thanks largely to the open ended drumming of Saleh. There is so much space to move around here and Bestial Mouths do an amazing job of filling most of it. Always moving, but at the same time sketching out a world view that is none too pretty for those that choose to listen. Really good record that shouldn’t go ignored if you’re remotely interested in this type of thing.
Bestial Mouths – Gulls (stream)
To those interested in purchasing Hissing Veil, it’s available through Dais Records or their Bandcamp page for those who prefer digital. It comes strongly recommended.
First thing I noticed about Glowing Brain Garden was the elaborate artwork that is featured pretty much everywhere on the record. It also includes a couple inserts that also display the same type of sprawling images. Have to appreciate the type of effort that went into putting this together, a completely self-funded venture it would appear and one that is obviously a labor of love. As for Northern Liberties and their music, they actually kind of mimic what you see covering every inch of this release. At least in terms of imagery, as lyricist Justin Duerr takes a rather psychedelic/fantasy turn with the themes for this. The music itself ends up falling into a much noisier/abrasive area, but one that likely lands smack dab in between say…Karp and Lightning Bolt, kind of drawing elements from both styles I’d imagine but never really committing to either completely. Multiple listens has found me enjoying it more, and while the old bass and drums setup is a plentiful one they do well here in a adding a bit to it instead of merely taking up space. Despite this being their 5th record, from what I understand, this is the first time I’ve had the pleasure of hearing them. Busy individuals it would appear; probably will have two more releases out by the time I get this one on the site. Kidding, give it a listen.
Northern Liberties – Maryanne of the Deep [MP3]
Anyone looking to pick Glowing Brain Garden up can do so by heading over to the bands website where they have that and a variety of their other releases available.
Was pretty pumped to see this land in my mailbox roughly a month or so ago. Yeah, it’s been that long…way too much shit going on right now, blah blah blah. Anyway, got hooked on Bloodhouse from a link to download their six song cassette from One Base On an Overthrow awhile back, although I’m not necessarily sure exactly on the specifics. The Halifax group play a delay heavy and fuzzed out sort of pop/punk mixture that I doubt I’ll ever get sick of hearing at this point. Bands want to tackle this sound? Be me guest. This here single on Caesar Cuts is the bands debut on any type of vinyl format, featuring two brief two minute rockers that do well in showing off what the band can do. The a-side of “Please Don’t Meet Me” is what would probably qualify as “heavy pop”, something that the band uses to describe their own sound. It gets going with the slow stomp of guitar and drums and continues to pound it out for two minutes interspersing here and there with some lovely guitar twang/squall that brings on the downer vibes a bit. On the b-side there is “Cool Intentions”, which lays into a subtle shifting and quite effective melody for its duration while surrounding it in plenty of rough distortion as well. These folks hit the nostalgia button kind of hard at times, but I believe it to be well worth the ride.
This comes from my own rip of the single, as I did it before they put it up for free download. Oh well. Give it a listen.
Bloodhouse – Please Don’t Meet Me [MP3]
This is currently available through Caesar Cuts or the band has put the two songs up for free download on their Bandcamp site.
Got this single awhile back from Summerstep Records, who also had a hand in putting out that Kid Icarus record that appeared on these pages not all that long ago. With that said, it kind of gave me an idea as to what could be expected from this little 2 tracker (4 if you count bonus digital downloads), in that it’s probably going to be some sort of jangly indie-rock type of deal. Sure enough, Eww Yaboo grind out what is some solid enough rock here at times that actually amps it up a bit on a couple of these tunes sort of teetering into some garage inspired recklessness, which is appreciated. It would be nice though to hear them step a bit further outside the box, however. They seemed to choose the two actual tracks for this single wisely, as both are easily the best of the bunch. The a-side of “Make it Fast” is a cut that’s sort of true to it’s a name, but manages squeeze in some plucky guitar work alongside some intermittent raises of decibel levels. On the flip there is “So Many of the Kids”, which boils it down to a simpler grungy type of crunch and throws in a somewhat soulful sounding chorus to decent results. The two bonus cuts, well, sound more or less like bonus cuts typically do for the most part. I feel like staying away from the slower tempo tropic influenced sound that they feature on “Don’t Change Yr. Mind” would be a wise move. I imagine there are people who will dig that, but it kind of throws a wrench in a set of songs that generally keep things loud, uptempo, and moderately catchy. Kind of like that Fat History Month single I wrote about not too long ago, this one splits it 50/50. Not too shabby.
Eww Yaboo – So Many of the Kids (stream)
Anyone looking to grab this can do so over at Summerstep Records. I think it’s also available digitally as well through Bandcamp.
I was a bit late getting into the Italian trio of His Electro Blue Voice, not really hearing them until I listened to their Animal Versus single on Batshit Records that came out a couple years ago. After that however, I found myself seeking out whatever else they had released. As it turns out they aren’t the most prolific band, hanging around since 2006 or so and spitting out a single here and there, so doing so wasn’t terrible hard. The release of this 12-inch, Dead Sons, is quite possibly the longest running item they’ve put out yet, with three songs that span just over 20 minutes or so. They chew it up in fine fashion though, bringing together their usual post-punk influenced sound while bringing in some interesting droning/psychedelic elements to the mix.
The bit of goth-rock leanings that these guys generally had before are all but gone on Dead Sons and instead opting for a more straight, but not any less ominous, post-punk sound. They’ve opened up things here for what I would consider a bit of experimentation, with a couple tracks that are practically divided up into different movements I guess you could say. The lead track “Dead Mice” would certainly count towards one of those, with the first half being a rolling piece of excellent scuzz that eventually hits a point about midway through where it just completely stops. A looping sample plays for about 30 seconds before the song begins to kick back in with a roughly three minute outro complete with saxophone and flute. It eventually gels to what ends up being a fantastic finish and one that only adds to the sense of impending doom that these guys drum up so well.
It ends up that the second track on the a-side “Eat Sons” becomes the outlier here with its three minute run time. There is no shortage of distortion here though, as His Electro Blue Voice throw up a wall of buzzing guitar noise for this one that is propelled along with nice solid rolling drums. An excellent way to finish off the side as it quickly fades out allowing for the track “Zum” on the flip to bring everything back down to a menacing sort of crawl. Opening up with just the pluck of bass, the track gradually builds upon what starts off as a simple ambient piece of droning background feedback that eventually hits an apex, and yet again promptly stops midway through, where the noise jumps out from it’s initial second fiddle placing and promptly swallows everything up. The track gets moving again shortly thereafter with another burst of guitar but quickly sets itself into a groove that plays out the remaining three or so minutes while adding a number of psych/kraut flourishes along the way with keys and the eerie distant howl of someone or something occasionally creeping into the picture.
Love that these guys are willing to go in a number of directions while still firmly holding onto a distinct vibe. Their releases may be too far and few between, but they are no doubt worth the wait. If they ever put together a full-length, beware.
His Electro Blue Voice – Dead Mice (stream)
Those interested in grabbing this can do so by hitting up Brave Mysteries, where it should still be available.
Yep, that would be a Minutemen reference you see there, however that’s pretty much where that homage stops. God Bows to Math are an Auckland, New Zealand based group that I first noticed with their EP from earlier last year and enjoyed enough to throw on a podcast. Didn’t realize an album was already in the plans, but as it turns out they’ve been trying to get this thing together for awhile now with a number of hangups along the way and finally getting it released towards the end of 2011.
The band is often advertised as something vaguely mathy, but really I don’t hear that, which is sort of surprising considering all the other areas they do lightly touch upon. Although with a song title like “Details on How to get DONCAB on Your License Plate”, you’d be led to believe otherwise. Also, I laughed a bit at that title. On this debut, God Bows to Math do tread somewhat into noisier territory at times when they feel compelled to with a guitar tone and riff largeness that kind of mimics the now sadly defunct Part Chimp. They however interject these aggressions with post-rock inspired instrumentals throughout the album that thankfully do not also include the characteristically long track lengths, which in turn makes for some decent transitions from track to track. Like fellow New Zealand peers Die! Die! Die!, the band isn’t afraid to adopt heavier pop leanings to allow their songs to be a bit more catchy, which I had not initially expected from them. Although, I wouldn’t quite say it’s to the extent of the aforementioned Die! Die! Die!, but as someone who went into this record looking for it to be more of a straight presentation of slightly noisier rock; it’s in fact turned out to be a much more varied record than I anticipated and largely in a good way. While I’ll never know if that’s more to do with the lengthy period of time it took to record it or just a natural growth as a band, either way the results turned out pretty good.
God Bows to Math – Blues for the Blind (stream)
Anyone that is interested in picking this up can do so by simply hitting up the groups Bandcamp page where they have it available on CD or digitally.
