Free Clinic & Half Nelson Split LP
Relatively new split LP out on Ulja Factory from two Pittsburgh bands in Free Clinic and Half Nelson, one of which I’ve had the pleasure of hearing before and another that is new to these ears. The a-side is comprised of eight tracks from Free Clinic. Their demo from last year was a pretty promising piece of plodding lo-fi noise that likely perked the interest of those who consider Drunks With Guns, Killdozer, and Feedtime among some of the greatest bands ever. Even if that’s not the case, fans of noise-rock in general should have taken notice. Unfortunately I do not have the piece I wrote about it at the time, but to summarize…I enjoyed it quite a bit. No surprise there I imagine. With their side on this split Free Clinic doesn’t really move away from that approach at all, coming back with eight more tunes of down tuned bass heavy THUD. While a bit more audible this time around, it’s still not by much and the “budget on a dime” character remains as well. The vocals this time around seem a bit more relegated to the background with less shouting/screaming and more of a detached spoken type of thing going on, similar to that of Michael Gira and early Swans. In fact, the track below that I am posting for the Free Clinic side is named SWAN, which I imagine has to be an homage in some way, if it’s not…it’s a hell of a coincidence after hearing it. These tracks though are every bit as punishing as those found on their demo. If you enjoyed that, then this split is a must.
As for Half Nelson, this is my first time hearing the group, project, or whatever it may be. While also lurking around the realm of all things noise, as one would figure here, Half Nelson is a particularly different beast resulting in a rather interesting pairing here. They have a single untitled track consuming the entire b-side of the record. Shifting between a myriad of different clangs, squeals, and motorized hums Half Nelson seem to mash what occasionally sounds like found sound of the inner workings of a power plant and the subtle manipulations of electronics/distortion. Their approach isn’t one that strives to overpower with noise, but rather achieves a certain level of depth with the reduced volume sparking an interest in uncovering more. It’s similar to that of putting your ear against a door in an effort to deduce what may be taking place on the other side. I may not know what I’m hearing, but it remains interesting for the duration and its ability to act as a soundtrack to some degree allows my imagination to run some.
Free Clinic – SWAN (stream)
Half Nelson – Untitled excerpt (stream)
For anyone interested in picking this up, it’s available currently through Ulja Factory. I believe Katorga Works also has some copies of this as well. Only 250 copies pressed, so get it quick. Enjoy!
