FUCKED BY NEWCASTLE: Whitney's Houston Crypt - Chair Page Dotcom

Whitney's Houston's Crypt

'Chair Page Dotcom'

2014

Review by Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Post-punk, No Wave, Noise Rock

For fans of: Teenage Jesus and The Jerks, Tinsel Teeth, The Birthday Party, Arab On Radar

So anyone that read my way delayed and poorly edited list of bands to watch out for this year would know that despite already giving this band a shout out I felt it was necessary to give them their own submission regardless because they are easily one of my new favourite local acts to have come out from the city of the world's biggest KFC in the southern hemisphere (I'm not even kidding look it up). 

I get giddy for any bands that ride a fine balancing act between being aesthetically unbearable and remarkable with some younger bands either being not oddball enough to be fascinating or too much on the weird factor for its own good. In WHC's case they pretty much sound like pro's already in their first release. How they manage to capture on recording a vicious sound mixture of noisy no wave post-punk madness that tethers between abrasive and melodically contagious at the same time is a true testament to how talented they are. The best part of the band is that it seems that all the instruments are always begrudgingly trying to play along but at the drop of a hat they all quickly break ranks and attempt overdo one another in a glorious mess of mismatched riffs and beats and by god does it work like a treat and to top it all off the sole vocalist here is akin to the angsty teenager child of Lydia Lunch, Kim Gordon and Karen O running away from home to join a circus curated by psychopaths.

Anyone that sleeps on this band will be missing out on a bad time but in a good way, like walking to a dog park with wearing nothing but boxers made out of mince meat or maybe as I alluded to in the shorter review, walking to work in your birthday suit. Basically its an EP best served nude for reasons I cannot explain.

TRACKLISTING:

1. My Opinions On Mexican Day Of The Dead Makeup Tutorials

2. How To Get Their Skeletons Their Whitest

3. Mambo No. #666

4. Witch's Cyst

5. Foil

6. What Me Worry?

Bandcamp

FUCKED BY NEWCASTLE: Crab Smasher - Discography

'Discography'
Crab Smasher

2002-ongoing

Genre/s: Psychedelic, Experimental, Noise Rock, Noise Pop

For fans of: Boredoms, Violent Onsen Geisha, Mogwai, Pharaoh Sanders, Oval

Review by Jerry Kahale

Continuing with my series on our Novocastrian artists in "Fucked By Newcastle," when it comes to home brewed noise, Crab Smasher are perhaps one of the most fascinating acts to ever come out of the Steel City. I only have a small grasp of their history but I'll try to explain it as best I can. Crab Smasher started as a duo in 2002, with Grant Hunter (Polyfox And The Union Of Most Ghosts, Anal Discharge) and Nicholas French (Polyfox…, Obat Batuk, The Farting Arses).

Although guest artists would frequently appear on their releases, it was the album Serie Un Di Collaborazione that would cement Crab Smasher as the musical collective of Nicholas and Grant, with a revolving door of many different artists joining – including Nick Senger (Castings), Sarah Humphreys, Chris Hearn (Alps), Mike Foxall (Nancy Vandal), James Kritzler (Slug Guts, White Hex), Nathan N. Martin (Anal Discharge, Sweet Teeth, HANNAHBAND, Burlap) and a lot more. In around 2008, Marnie Vaughan (Sweet Teeth, HANNAHBAND), who had already appeared on a few Crab Smasher recordings – was starting to appear on all their subsequent recordings, thus making Crab Smasher a trio. Twelve years on, they are still making music to this day, with their most recent piece, Scum Puzzle, released this year in May.

So, what kind of music do they make? Well, anything and everything, really. Their musical journeys know no boundaries; almost every single release is completely different from the last and are usually always improvised. Take Scum Puzzle for example – an electronic and mostly instrumental album completely driven by coarse and abstract bit-crushed synths gone mad and erratic drumming, with a relatable pop rhythm that falls in tandem of a listenable and uncomfortable experience – but go back one album, to Earth Buddies, and we have a live radio session of the first ever "carbon neutral noise band" which has all the members switch out their synths and drums to get their crazy hands on thumb keyboards, glockenspiels, recorders, percussion, acoustic guitars, zither, battery powered toys and just about anything that isn't connected to a power outlet, creating an aurally destructive but environmentally friendly symphony.

They go from the avant-garde noise pop of the Blue Album to dreamy ambient post rock on The Doctor Is In…Over His Head. Most of their earlier releases are more focused on noise soundscapes like Todd McFarlane Crushes The Tyranny Of Corporate America. Sometimes a single release can have styles and genres all over the shop like Thick Mosquito Sky and Bones Are Stronger Than Concrete.

If I had to choose a favourite release however, it would easily be Impossible Monsters, which is probably because it was my first foray into discovering Crab Smasher (I forgot how), and at a time when I was forsaking a lot of mainstream music and was hungry for something different, this release came along and really left a big impression on me. I haven't heard many albums that can transcend from rumbling drones and short bursts of static attacks crashing in through some extremely harsh noise, before doing a reverse on the mood and presenting the listener with a manic, thick layered and melodically adventurous theme song for some non-existent cartoon. Impossible Monsters continues to flip moods again, to dark and eerie lounge music, and eventually ambient noise flowing from the melancholic to the euphoric. The last song is what makes the entire album for me, as it serves to be a final, cathartic point of how far they can strip down the layers, until we have a minute long song of lone keyboards and bit-crushed drums with the only vocals on the entire release. It makes for an oddly emotional experience as the band bends the rules of consistency to make their own. Some other notable releases for me include DOOM+DOOM=OMG, Serie Un Collaborazione and Forever!.

You can get their entire discography from their bandcamp, with everything free to download. I won't provide a track listing because there are too many releases to put up. As for where to start, well I reckon you should explore for yourself, but otherwise you can go back over the review and try out the albums I mentioned.

Bandcamp

Editing by Simon Dawes
dawes1986@gmail.com

FUCKED BY NEWCASTLE: Hacked To Chunks - Demo Tape

'Demo Tape'
Hacked To Chunks
2014

Review by Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Grindcore, Mincecore
For fans of: Warsore, Agathocles, Unholy Grave, Violent Gorge, Dahmer, Pizza Hi-Five

For my next few reviews, I am going to feature my own series of bands to come out of Newcastle in NSW, simply called Fucked By Newcastle. Newcastle is a city that's two hours north up the coast from Sydney. It's a peculiar town, in that being the second most populous area in the state, it's been a ghost town most of the times I've been there. Most small-to-medium sized bands, both local and international, make the stop at Newcastle, and it has its own thriving and lucrative underground music scene that has music from all over the spectrum, including primitive noise acts that usually keep to themselves and who seldom put music online except through live bootlegs.

Hacked To Chunks are a grindy/mincecore Newcastle band that features members from a wide variety of musical projects (including a few insestual ones that will probably feature again in this series) including Obat Batuk, Disintegrator, Cock Safari and Amateur Drunks. Musically, I'd probably say they have more in relation to bands like Void and Jerry's Kids than any of the above bands though (a band like Warsore could be mentioned, but would be an exception) because as far as grindcore goes, this is unhinged and primitive with members constantly trying to outplay each other as fast as possible.

Hardcore this is not though. This is pure mincey grind with riffs that are as simple as they come but very chunky (sigh) and completely devastating. The drums are also doing what they do best, delivering these songs from break neck speeds to break every-single-bone-in-your-puny-body speeds, but the vocals are what I think make this really interesting. It's not like the usual deep monster growl, nor the high pitched eagle screams we've come to expect from grindcore. It's more like a disgruntled and drugged out Skeletor doing his best black metal impressions. The only band I can think of that does this style of vocals and does it well is Witch Cult.

This review is an F.B.N. exclusive. There is almost no music of Hacked To Chunks available online bar a few YouTube videos, so I got permission to rip my copy of the demo tape here, since the only way to get this tape is to see them live, given their lack of online presence. It's a bit hissy but otherwise it's audible. The other side of the tape features a live set at a sweet DIY venue in Newcastle called The Pharmacy (got to see Space Bong there once at 1am in the morning) that features more or less the same songs (for you non-Aussie people, the date on the live track reads DD/MM/YY).

There isn't really anything to fault here. If you like your grind as berserk as it can get, then Hacked To Chunks are your new best friends.

TRACKLISTING:
1. His Hero Is Bong
2. Eastern Wisdom
3. Two Hits
4. No More Wine
5. Cut It Off
6. Captain Planet
7. Otter
8. Live @ The Pharmacy 29/12/13

Download

Editing by Simon Dawes 
dawes1986@gmail.com p.s the original post had the .wav version of the tape but it has now been replaced with the .mp3 version

FUCKED BY NEWCASTLE: Hutz - Greatest Hutz Vol. 1

'Greatest Hutz Vol. 1'
Hutz
2012

Review by Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Ambient, Drone, Electronic, Hip Hop, Experimental
For Fans Of: Tim Hecker, Gas, Brian Eno, Stars Of The Lid, OFWGKTA,12 Oz Mouse

Yo. So i've been AWOL for the past six or so months because its kind of hard to write reviews when you dont have a computer. Here is a review i started ages ago but never finished till now.

Just like how it first grabbed my attention when I was given this cassette in a tape trade with my pal Max who runs White House Records (The Sufferjets, The Nugs, Whitney Houston's Crypt) I can say that the album cover itself has immobilized your mouse wheel from scrolling down in a state of disarray. A paper mache mask of Milhouse in a pink shirt beside a well-crafted rubber mask of Homer Simpson? What is this absurdity?

As it turns out its not even the weirdest thing about it, this is a soundtrack for an obscure webseries called Hommer Simpson (not a typo). Curiosity got the best of me and I can't be ever more thankful because its truly an amazing piece of morbid dadaist comedy. It is pretty much The Simpsons given the 12 Oz Mouse and Dumbland treatment, even more so the former because it starts out the same way with crudely drawn animation with wafer thin plots seemingly give way to a contrived and deliberately confusing conspiracy story but this is with characters you've come to know and love put through the ringer and warped, wrecked and molested in true black comedy scenarios. It even has its own in-show series called Seinbleuth, a crossover of Seinfeld and Arrested Development that also descends into chaos and a plethora of Australian television references of last decade (kinda like another aussie absurd animation called The Big Lez Show). It starts as crap animation but as the series progresses it goes beyond parody and becomes self spiteful art.

The soundtrack for this series is just as weird.. It starts off conventional enough with an extended jam of a "Live From News" theme but then listening to it in one go is a weird ordeal in itself because most of the songs consists of all the collected music from one episode. So here you are listening to lounge music, cheesy but epic hip hop to butchered up versions of original Simpsons songs and then there are the songs that cannot even be described without your brain going to a blithering mess (Homm Grimm) but without realizing it a mood swing comes about and it transforms into these minimal swells to wondrous and lush drones that gradually wash into each other. All of a sudden it doesn't feel like you are listening to a soundtrack from an absurd black comedy animation anymore. Going into "Hommer Simpson 5" it really starts to become haunting but between the drones there are these little moments that are truly unique; a lone gradual electronic beat pulsating in and out, harmonious strings and piano crescendoing up to a pinnacle and really dark moments of crying children and maniacal laughter cutting through static and phasing with some intense industrial drums and synths. 

There are too many of these unique moments to mention here because what makes this release stand out from other ambient releases is that it seldoms stays on the one theme for a long period of time because its all based on a webseries, so you can say its a soundtrack that likes to toy with you. Enjoying these sombre and deep soundscapes? Fuck you take this destroyed version of the Stonecutters song. Even if you don't end up watching the series its still a truly unique release thats there for the kind of music fan that likes it when artists and albums don't pay by the rules.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Live From News (Extended Mix)
2. Hommer Simpson 3 Suite
3. Cletus And Glick - Thuggin' In Springfield
4. Homm Grumm
5. Hommer Simpson 4 Suite
6. Hommer Simpson 5 Suite
7. Seinbleuth 2 Suite
8. Hommer Simpson 6 Suite
9. Cletus And Glick - The Lard Lad Hustle
10. Marge Karaoke - Sanitarium (Welcome Home)
11. Hommer Fixes Dulk (Hommer 6 Deleted Scene)

Download

Sex Scheme - Sex Scheme

Sex Scheme
"Sex Scheme"
2014

(Band Submission)

Review by Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Noise Rock, Proto Punk
For Fans Of: Big Black, The Stooges, Half Japanese, Suicide

Gawddayumint this is some uncomfortable and antagonistic listening, which even at first impressions seems intentional because there is zero solace or closure to be found here and that's the way this artist likes it. Sex Scheme starts off simple enough and it deceives you into thinking that its all simple bass lines and beats plodding along but then when the guitar comes in and starts running its own show and the vocals follow shortly after it turns into this aggravated fury of masochistic electronic noise rock that slowly and surely abuses you to no end, literally no end because the songs end as abruptly as they come. While I suspect the narratives, if there are any, would be suitably offensive, its hard to tell because of the menacing vocals which are quite a highlight here. Its the sort of intense swooning that would make Stooges era Iggy Pop proud, actually Sex Scheme is probably what you get if you have Iggy Pop front Big Black and the obnoxious knob over-cranked and it works like a charm.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Dog Slut
2. Feel Me
3. Eat It
4. Mexico City

Download

Various Artists - Distortion And Dissonance

'Distortion And Dissonance'
Various Artists
2014

Review by Jerry Kahale (1-10) and Brayden Bagnall (11-17)

Genre/s: Mathcore, Dark Hardcore, Grindcore, Screamo, Metalcore
For Fans Of: Distortion and/or dissonance 

Instead of reviewing one band we are going to review the 17 Australian and NZ bands on this compilation from Art As Catharsis all in somewhat bite size reviews that I hope don't jump around too much in contextual tone. Now some of the bands have already been featured on this fine and dandy blog and for those we will still provide a review anyway and then have a link to the original post right afterwards. So without further ado lets start at the first band and if you are a regular visitor you should fully know who these chaps are...p.s we do not apologise if you get offended at the number of made up genres we create here. 

IDYLLS - Animal Test
Fuck it, I'm going to be straight forward and unprofessional, I think Prayer For Terrene is AOTY material. Only four months into 2014 and already this is one of the most ferocious, absurd and sadistic releases that has ever graced ears. This is a living nightmare captured on record (or mp3 for now) and this one song doesn't do it justice. Seriously it doesn't. Not only has it broke the already high standard that Farewell All Joy established, it has also opened to experimentation and forays into other styles and genres all without losing its core characteristics that defined IDYLLS from the rest. I expected this album to knock it out of the park but it just knocked it out of the fucking hemisphere.  You can download the whole album right now on their bandcamp for $5 so shut the fuck up and give your chump change in exchange for what, in my humble opinion, is bloody brilliant music.
 If you haven't read their interview on this blog then stop doing what you are doing and go read it and then come back here. 

Totally Unicorn - Guts
These guys need little introduction, especially if you reside down under and like music with distorted guitar and a bit of yelling, but for everyone else Totally Unicorn create outrageous, eccentric and mostly sensual heavy post-hardcore specifically for unleashing you and your dad's inner magical animal all for the sake of partying. Guts is as unpredictable as the band's live antics. Its oddball style of partycore are viciously catchy and quite danceable before the quirky time signature changes pulls the rug from under your feet as a reminder that its their party and what they say goes. The final passage of the song is pretty much the party reaching tipping point and crashing in a rambunctious yet glorious manner. Its fun for the whole family. 

Snakes Get Bad Press - No Secret
Ready or not, SGBP unleashes their own brand of negative mathgrind fury right off the bat with little to fault here. Its not often that a band comes along and their most heaviest instrument is the vocals, full of character with a captivating temperament that has a vigorous, emotional and weighted dynamic, like as if he is at this moment in your room yelling right in front of your face. Lets not retract from the rest of the music though for it all rips, blasts and outright smashes its way through with pinpoint precision and a surplus of juicy licks to boot.

Tanned Christ - Provider
You can just feel those opening notes dripping from your speakers, but not in a smooth and sweet honey sort of way, but rather a watch out its going to start hailing sort of way. That's probably the best metaphor i can abuse to describe Tanned Christ, an ongoing hailstorm, which carrying on from that metaphor, hail being ice and ice being clear, the color of the guitar timbre here are so pristine and cold, similar to early Agents Of Abhorrence or even Discordance Axis where the norm of using chunky distortion isn't utilised. Hey, do those vocals sound familiar? They should because it is infact Drew from Totally Unicorn fame in "party at the back but business in the front" mode. Tanned Christ is actually, for lack of a better word, a supergroup with members from both equally gloomy and doomy Making and Narrow Lands (they deserve a review on their own too) but this ain't brooding music here, its constantly and indiscriminately destructive and not even your umbrella is going to save you here.

Jxckxlz - The Madman Is Me
They used to be called Jackals but vowels are for weaklings. Jxckxlz is a sludge/math influenced metalcore band with members that either play or used to play in Kill A Celebrity, Adrift For Days, Lo! and Snakes Get Bad Press. Unlike most bands so far Jackals traverse into more atmospheric endeavors instead of short bursts, flowing and weaving through the motions of chaos, nihilism and reflection manifested by both their maturity and their experience. Besides their well encased craftsmanship is a story told through an autumn state of fury and madness that is expressed from the catharsis of every note, rhythm and roar pulled off so diligently that it surpasses being just a Botch or Gaza worship band, which many have done but with not as much patience or artistry as this.

Their debut Dronepunk was reviewed here before so click on these words to suss it out.

Gvrlls - The Death Of A Bridge
That hum of chromatic and dissonant guitar wailing is a good indication that this is going to be pretty mean and scary. Gvrlls combines essential mathcore with a post hardcore foundation with just a pinch of modern metal sensibilities, particularly the menacing vocals which are really reminiscent of Darkest Hour. It does seem to overrall have a little more accessibility and familiarity unlike other bands on this compilation but it makes it all the more welcoming to their brand of angsty post-math-metalcore and its no doubt a worthy addition here.

ACHE - Sorry...
As an antithesis to bands with metallic tones like Tanned Christ, ACHE is not only one of the most heaviest and robust bands on this compilation but its also one of the most appropriate usage of a seven string guitar, and by appropriate I mean actually playing chords on those oversized guitars in an unbelievable act of using kinetic force to move the hand across the neck and applying pressure from your fingers onto the strings alongside the fretboard to create and play other chords besides the dreaded open chord, but I digress, ACHE is what happens when you forge the full fledged barrage of crust punk with the intensity of screamo and you get a refreshing yet outright devastating and melancholic display of scrrrustmo punk (sorry) to come out in a long time. There may not be a whole lot of complexity and odd time signatures happening here compared to other bands but sometimes less says a lot more, and with the hoard of weeping guitars and brutal but heartfelt vocals it is certainly the case here. 

Fat Guy Wears Mystic Wolf Shirt - Within
Ever come across a band that is exactly what everyone says about their so called superiors or influences except its even more true? Or rather, FGWMWS>DEP. I know, big call, definetly egging on for a shitfight and believe me I love DEP as much as the next mathematician but when a band that has probably has 1/100 of DEP's fanbase create deliciously articulately catchy music thats less bombastic, more grounded and yet full of impossible riffs and rhythm jumping all over the scale/offbeats all which is orchestrated by an intelligent gentleman going postal, settles for just a moment before it strides into an uproarious plight of misplaced glee and madness that sucks us all in to sing along to a choir more contagious than, well, the entirety of Ire Works, then I am prepared for any shitfights to come.

In Trenches - An Impending Collapse
I have to admit I felt like this band has fallen off the radar and I wasn't too sure if they were still around or not. Turns out they are still kicking it and just as well because this is a fine slab of rage that is certain to ignite even the most apathetic crowd. A bit more Rise And Fall/Cursed sludge hardcore influence than from the rest of the pack, its has an abundance of terrific riffs and plenty of variety and progression throughout the track with a good handful of mosh-friendly moments that doesn't overstay its welcome or seem out of place. Don't let the fact that this has one of the ex-members of I Killed The Prom Queen (that could have changed though its been a while) deter you from skipping this track, you'd be mad to do so.

Thorax - Shit Chute To Oblivion
Something a little different, which for this compilation is saying quite a bit. First off being the first band with a female vocalist present on this compilation, which brings a unique yet fitting shade of raw and fierce energy to lead on this peculiar style of mid paced psychedelic hardcore, yes it does seem to be a thing. Half vintage doom rock and hald rough as guts hardcore with a lot of infectious groovy parts in between some quite spacious moments scattered in and out which makes for a lot of interesting guitarwork to traverse around the pummeling drums. Its the longest track on this entire compilation but its also a track that stands out with its unique juxtapose of different heavy music styles.

Régresser - A Black Cloud
Régresser are a band from Newcastle, so naturally you can assume the band is comprised entirely of surfers. Hobbies aside, régresser play party friendly hardcore, tinged with the sort of mathy noise rock Daughters were peddling prior to their untimely demise. Inventive song writing complimented nicely by diverse vocals and some impressive musicianship all round. Not bad for a bunch of surfers.

FVCK MOUNTAIN - The Guilty Thirty Eight
FVCK MOUNTAIN actually have a really hard to pronounce name (though it's an excellent Arrested Development reference - JK), so to keep things simple, just pronounce it like 'fuck'. Anyway, these Brisbanites play some mighty mean hardcore, coated in the crusty, sludgy goodness that Cursed was bringing to the table back in the day. Neat, downtuned tunes for the Deathwish Inc. generation. Did I mention they're from Brisbane? I'm from Brisbane too. There ya go.


(Edit: the Arrested Development reference went way over my head. For shame)

Parents - Dissent
Parents are the worst kind of Australians - they're New Zealanders. Despite the questionable citizenship status, the mathcore influenced skrimz these guys play is both refreshing and sonically jarring. While it's definitely throwing back to the genre genre's heyday in the 90s, Parents play their music with a technical ferocity and poilished sheen that sets them aside from the rest of the screamo revivalists. If you like your chaotic music offset with the odd post-rock/hardcore interlude and aren't afraid of a few odd tempos here and there, give Parents a look. 

Graves - Insect
Graves are New Zealanders too, and like Parents, I think it'd be totally okay if Australia appropriated them and raised them as their own (like any other NZ musician, really). Graves, however, are more concerned with utterly annihilating your ear cavity and punching any notion of melody or refrain in its stupid little stomach. It's full throttle metalcore, a la early 2000s Converge, with an emphasis on brevity and dissonance. Short, sweet and loud. 

Marathon - In Shadows
Another Brisbane band that deserves way more attention than they get is Marathon. One of the few bands that can pull of 'noodly' without infuriating me, Marathon's music is a maelstrom of furious riffage, imbued with emotion and decorated very nicely with gnarly, throat shredding vocals. Modern screamo done right. I should also mention they've just put out a new full length, so you should probably go look at that

Ritual Harm - When Day Fades to Night and Push Becomes Shove
And now for something a little different. Imagine emotional hardcore run through the grim styling of death metal, crust and just a smidgeon of black metal, and you'll have a pretty good indication of what Ritual Harm sound like. It's absolutely pummeling stuff that kinda sounds like it belongs on A389 with Full Of Hell. Interesting factoid: I've seen these guys live, and they play in the dark - with candles! How cool is that.

Machina Genova - Courtaud
And you thought the most exciting thing in Canberra was the roundabouts, tsk tsk. I've seen a lot of praise heaped on Machina Genova in the past 12 months, and you know what - they kinda deserve it. These dudes play some of the most caustic stuff to ever come out of Australia, let alone it's second most boring city (you suck Adelaide). This is metallic hardcore at it's frantic, chaotic  best - I can basically see the guys in the band frothing at the mouth when they play it. Blistering tunes that you should check out as soon as you've finished reading this review.


So there you have it. Now go download it. We know how much you like free music.

Scapa Flow - Coercion/Control

'Coercion/Control'
Scapa Flow
2014


(Band Submission)

Review by Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Industrial, Drone, Noise Rock, Experimental
For fans of: Godflesh, Author And Punisher, The Grey Wolves, Child Brides, Pig Heart Transplant

A single and drawn out distorted howl drowns in an act of self infliction with layers of bulky stomps and a twitching screech that crawl under its own skin till eventually it erodes inside out and slowly collapses. That is how the first track 'Regression' kicks off Coercion/Control, an EP by Scapa Flow and from the get go its not going to be a tranquil listen.

Touching on all sides of the dark and industrial noise spectrum, the tracks go from essential industrial with abrasive ballads with ominous melodies floating around, grounded by an iron staked beat while a single soul screams trys to emerge to the top as he slowly descents into a bottomless pit, to more abstract explorations into either the atmospheric and haunting or ofttimes even abusive nightmares. Wherever this takes you, its no doubt a well constructed and intrinsic release. There is always something happening, even in the more quiet and droney sections there is a constant yet manic flow with all the textures and sounds that are employed here seldom laying rest on a single monotonous idea.

The last song 'Cries For Help Replied With Silence', which is a fitting analogy to coincide with the vocals, ends exactly as it starts, brooding and hopeless. If you like your feelings just like your cuppa, black, then let this take, or rather, drag you to a wonderful world of depression and misery. 

Oh yeah by the way there are at least 3 other bands caned Scapa Flow (thanks last.fm) and none of them seem to have this particular artist. Someone should go fix that. I am too sad to do it.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Regression
2. Savages
3. Dead Reflections
4. Isolation
5. Extinction Will be Swift
6. Illusion Of Progress
7. Cries For Help Replied With Silence

Bandcamp

The Floor Above - Bishop

'Bishop'
The Floor Above
2013

Review by Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Hardcore, Noise Punk
For Fans Of: Lotus Fucker, White Wards, Crazy Spirit, SQRM, Dawn Of Humans

This album was recommended to me by a bloke named Nic Warnock who works at Repressed Records in Newtown, Sydney and is of course more well known for running the RIP Society label who is home to bands like Royal Headache, Bed Wetting Bad Boys, Constant Mongrel and Red Red Krovvy to name a few. I usually make an effort to visit the store when I'm in the area since I live about an hour away and along with picking up the Soma Coma demo tape and Night Birds' The Other Side Of Darkness LP I asked him to recommend me some chaotic and noisy hardcore. Barely got to finish my sentence before he grabbed a copy of Bishop and whacked it on the record player. Needless to say I grabbed it (in exchange for cash money, believe it or not) and now I'm here to tell you about it.

First a fun fact: The Floor Above is an one man project. So I guess I could say this guy is the Burzum of hardcore and finish this review but it would also undermine this record because when it comes to noisy hardcore this could very well be one of the most bleakest, abrasive and brutal hardcore LPs to come out in a while. You'd think that from the screeching groans of an disharmonious choir of guitars leveled by the turbulent and furious rhythm with a lonely and disturbed soul howling through the carnage like that of the insane locked up in an empty but endless padded cell in a psychiatric hospital where the mind cracks and unravels madness beyond repair, all delivered in a muddled and harsh but still reasonably audible production that this could be mistaken for an obscure and old japanese hardcore band but fun fact #2: This guy resides in Nashville, Texas and it was released late last year.

This is truly a nihilistic and fucking awesome listening experience. If you are looking for something with a bit more structure and showmanship then just keep on walking but if you seek for onslaught after onslaught of devastating and manic hardcore then The Floor Above may very well be your new favorite band. Fun fact 3: The cover of the LP is just a blank black sleeve with a poorly printed cut out artwork glued on top. Nothing like taking D.I.Y to a new extreme.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Broken Jaw
2. Endless Plan
3. Bullshit March
4. Underbody
5. Tremor
6. New Colony
7. Parade
8. Overdose
9. Clone
10. Figment
11. Sunk
12. Imaginary Life
13. House Fire
14. Unconscious
15. Mind Experiment
16. Hillside Visions
17. Liquid Herring
18. Last Settlement
19. Tunnels
20. Cave Disease

Download

Kiddo - I Could Hear the Earth Turn/The Ground Would Shift and Shake/Oh How I Spent My Days/Happy to Be Anything

"I Could Hear the Earth Turn/The Ground Would Shift and Shake/Oh How I Spent My Days/Happy to Be Anything"
Kiddo 
2013

(Band submission)


Review by Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Emo, Post Punk, Alternative, Garage Rock
For Fans Of: Touche Amore, Piano Becomes The Teeth, The Smith Street Band, Shellac, The Jesus Lizard

Kiddo, who hail from California, are an emo/post/alt/whathaveyou punk band that in an almost oxymoronic manner dishes out a half hour slab of playful and vibrant tunes full of youth and vigor that is certain to ignite a live setting and get a bunch of miserable punks yelping the words out loud. There is a good flow of emotions swinging from joyous to brooding and of course some angry there too for good measure. Kiddo seems to have also found an interesting foothold in between emo punk and alternative rock and gradually going from one end to the other as the album progresses. It may be alot more obvious if you were to play the first and last track together but listen to the whole album and the transition is quite discreet which shows a well written album.

Overall its a jubilant and well crafted release that I can imagine would come to life if you saw Kiddo at a gig after a few beers (or apple juice if you're edge). Head to their bandcamp and grab it for a price at your own discretion and start reciting their lyrics by heart.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Cancer Kids
2. It's Always Snowing In Philadelphia
3. Summertime
4. 1998
5. Sad Song
6. Kittylitter Catfight
7. Young Neil
8. Bill Fucking Murray
9. Suicide Bat
10. I Am All That Is Rat

Bandcamp

Last Exit - Köln

'Köln'
Last Exit
1986

Review By Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Free Jazz, Experimental, Noise Music, Bebop

For Fans Of: Peter Brötzmann, Sonny Sharrock, Naked City, Albert Ayler, The Flying Luttenbachers

So my last review (not counting the band submissions) was a band called Final Exit, so i'm going to be a smartass and review Last Exit. Don't worry though its all still very noisy and destructive, and no its not the British power electronics project either (Cheers last.fm). Incase you aren't familiar already Last Exit is an experimental free jazz supergroup consisting of oddball jazz instrumentalists including saxophonist Peter Brötzmann (Machine Gun), the late drummer/vocalist Ronald Shannon Jackson (collabs with Cecil Taylor and Ornett Coleman), bass guitarist Bill Laswell (collabs with Herbie Hancock, Yoko Ono, Iggy Pop and heaps more) and the late guitarist Sonny Sharrock (collabs with Pharaoh Sanders before being his own artist and is most renowned for the Space Ghost Coast To Coast theme song). 

Do you like musical notes, well constructed harmonies and a rigid time signature? Tough titties, because even locking up wild wolves in a music store would not be anywhere near as violent and bewildering as these madmen. Last Exit is a civil war of  noisy jazz music titans to see who can fuck shit up the most. This is by no means an easy listen. There is nothing easy here, even trying to point out a particularly unique part here is an impossible task. All the musicians, even the odd bouts of vocals, are non-stop crashing into each other like a derby, only occasionally letting one person a chance to shine on its own. Its far from a wank however, even amongst this chaos it still has all the professional marksmanship of years and history of world class musicians that defied the common ground and travel on their own path in a truly honest and unique journey. It should be pointed out that they only ever did one studio album and the majority of their releases, including this one, are live albums and presumably improvised too. 

Its a shame that Last Exit is often overshadowed by the equally eccentric Naked City, who formed a little later after Last Exit and both bands were active around the late 80's/early 90's but where Naked City tends to straight up assault towards as many genres and styles as possible in a hyperactive stupor, Last Exit is drawn more to destroying all the relics of conventional musicianship in a ferocious and rebellious fury that has yet to be matched.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Hard School
2. Brain Damage
3. Taking A Beating
4. Last Call
5. Dark Heart

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Open Graves – All I’ve Learned Is Death And Anxiety

"All I’ve Learned Is Death And Anxiety"
Open Graves
2013

(Band Submission)

Review By Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Hardcore, Crust, Death Punk

For Fans Of: Rise And Fall, Homewrecker, Cursed, Converge, Zao

Open Graves are a self proclaimed “death punk” band that hails from Fairmont, West Virginia, but Turbonegro they are not, rather they play messy and sludgey crust influenced hardcore that would make any A389/Deathwish buff happy. While this style of hardcore isn’t as groundbreaking as it used to be now that every jaded punk and his dog are starting these kinds of bands, I’m happy to say that Open Graves are very worthy to sit in your music player. All I’ve Learned…. is a relentless onslaught of dirty riffs and hyperactive drums pounding on while angsty men sing songs that is catered to punch a few bricks into rubble. There is probably not a single moment where it lets it guard down even amongst the quieter parts, well, only exception being the end of Blood Falls. My main gripe with these sorts of bands however (and lets face it most of the many varied styles of hardcore punk music) is that there aren’t many standout tracks and while this release does suffer a bit from that it is still collectively a solid slab of extreme hardcore.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Discomfort
2. Constant
3. Black Medicine
4. Abuse
5. The Living End
6. Blood Falls
7. Gypsy Eyes

Bandcamp

Looks Good - Demo

'Demo'
Looks Good
2013

(Band Submission)

Review by Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Hardcore, Powerviolence, Grindcore

For Fans Of: Witch Cult, Magrudergrind, Total Abuse, Cheap Art, Dropdead

First off I’m just going to get this done and out of the way even if there is no nice way to say this. Charles Manson samples have been done to death. This applies to all musical projects, even Death Grips. There aren’t enough Space Ghost Coast To Coast samples though. More of those please. Anyway, lets not detract that from the actual music, because it is nothing short of excellent fuzzed out and manic hardcore/powerviolence. Looks Good have pretty much ticked all the right boxes here and I can’t choose what I love the most. The twin vocals attacks like madmen in a knife fight with sawtooth riffs and hammering beats. I think what I love most about this is that they tend to divert to different passages besides just sticking to the fast/slow/fast dynamic that a lot of bands, even great ones, fall prey to. Looks Good thinks outside the box song structure wise without being too out there to be considered experimental.  In short, Looks Good are looking good – comedic genius I know. 

TRACKLISTING:
1. 9-5
2. Customer Worship
3. Looks Good
4. Bed Of Nails
5. Prison Knife
6. Rock Yo Body
7. Ignorant/Wiser
8. Herd The Good Word
9. Get Awasted
10. Deal Breaker
11. Omitted

Bandcamp

Final Exit - 'Seasons Are Going And Going... And Lives Goes On'

'Seasons Are Going And Going... And Lives Goes On'
Final Exit
2008

Review By Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Noisecore, Grindcore, Experimental, Noisegrind

For fans for: Sete Star Sept, Gore Beyond Necropsy, Seven Minutes Of Nausea, Penis Geyser

Not to be confused with the Swedish hardcore band of the same name (they're pretty good too if you like to listen to a band that made a particular pioneering style of hardcore ahead of its time that has since been homogenized to death by modern bands), This Final Exit hail from Japan and are perhaps the underdogs of the Japanese noisegrind scene but that doesn't make them any less special, infact quite the contrary. Have you ever at one point while listening to blistering grindcore thought to yourself "Hmm, it would be nice if i could listen to some slow acoustic music or maybe some happy clappy rock, maybe some Dick Dale inspired surf music or hey maybe some Iron Maiden or Complex to boot" then these grind maestros probably overheard you and did exactly that. 

"Seasons..." is delivered in around 10 minutes at break neck speeds constantly switching between noise and music faster than the Australian weather (heyoooooo relevant lame humor), this is for anyone that loves their reprehensible noisy grind with a polygamous marriage to a clusterfuck of other guitar centric genres.

TRACKLISTING
1. January
2. February
3. March
4. April
5. May
6. June (Ace's High)
7. July
8. August
9. September (Be My Baby)
10. October
11. November
12. December

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Mind Eraser - Conscious Unconscious

'Conscious Unconscious'
Mind Eraser
2008

Review by Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Powerviolence, Hardcore, Sludge, Primitive Death Metal

For fans of: Soul Swallower, Witch Cult, Hatred Surge, Mammoth Grinder, Innumerable Forms, Nihilist

Mind Eraser are one of those bands that go to show that not only is powerviolence far from being a dead genre or a passing phrase, it is legitimately more thriving than ever before. Up until this particular release they churned out two albums Cave and Glacial Reign that entwine equal amounts of hardcore, powerviolence and sludge together seamlessly. This released was a sudden shock with what is usually the number of tracks is now the length of the songs themselves and vice versa so instead of 10 two-minute songs Conscious Unconscious has 2 ten-minute songs.

Conscious Unconscious is, in my humble opinion, their magnum opus. You can tell that this was the record they've always wanted to create and they pulled it off. From the ominous and haunting cacophony of phased out guitars that give way to an utterly devastating crash of aggression and speed that is a fine example of powerviolence at its very best before it fades away as quick as it comes and a lone bass starts to play slowly and then its a long and bombastic display of hardcore influenced sludge. The riffs are mean, the leads are sorrowful and the vocals are raw and nihilistic. The beauty of this though is that they do change it up but they do so with their ace of being able to string many styles of heavy music together, and in this release they even have spouts of early Swedish style death metal with not only the guitar solos but the production with emphasis on making it sound as dirty and cursed as possible. Even the snare sounds as deep as the kick drum compared to their prior releases. The production and mix is one of the factors that really made this album and if it was different it would not have had the same impact. Heck even the album art is reminiscent of early death metal albums.

That is all just in one half of the first track Conscious, it goes through the motions of going fast again, then slow and so on. The second track Unconscious is of course the same recipe but a different beast that never feels like a repeat of the first track. The last half ends at its most punishing before finally collapsing to the very same haunting mess of guitars that started it.

Its great when bands decide to experiment, its even better when they experiment without losing much or any of their core sound, its super better when its works but its fucking outstanding when its as immaculate as Conscious Unconscious.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Conscious
2. Unconscious

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White Mice – BLasssTPhlEgMEICE

'BLasssTPhlEgMEICE'
White Mice
2007

Review by Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Noise Rock, Industrial Noise, Noisegrind, Experimental
For fans of: Lightening Bolt, Big Black, Arab On Radar, AIDS Wolf, Xbxrx

The Providence, Rhode Island noise/art music scene is no doubt a polarizing scene that’s equally loved and loathed by music fans alike that are either astonished at their outward experiments in their jugular and absurd sounds and stage presence or frowned upon for being nothing more than a bunch of artsy-fartsy types wasting their college years on making deliberately annoying music and shitty art. You can’t doubt that their creativity hasn’t gone unnoticed though and I believe there is a lot to say about these bands, some of which became highly influential. One such band sits around on the heavier spectrum, and by heavy I mean completely catastrophic just as equal parts catatonic. Insert comedic quip about how those words have “cat” in them to describe a band that are called White Mice.

I could just say that White Mice have half of Arab On Radar’s monotonous and repetitive song structure that was specifically designed for uncomfortable listening and Lightening Bolt’s adventurous foray into unorthodox soundscapes and melodies without the hyperactive nature. They’re much more than that though. Listening to White Mice makes you feel like an insane and merciless criminal, a beast that destroys with a sickening glee, a megalomaniac with full intention to inflict suffering. You’re riding on the mind of a sadist that is beyond any point of return. Armed with nothing more than a fuzzed out bass, hammering drums, a harrowing oscillator and demented vocals all in an outrageous lab mice costumes on stage, it is an essential listen to the deep end of non-feel good music. On a side note they also have the best song and album titles ever.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Blassstphlegmeice
2. Dieabeasstitty
3. Caged Mearachells
4. Catasstasteatrophy
5. Foetal Castro
6. Wrawblow
7. Violence On The Lamb
8. Porn Again
9. Hole (Sweet) Hole
10. Mousestassh Ride
11. Turban Sprawl
12. Rattarddead
13. Sewercide

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Purity Control - Adjusting

Greetings, my name is Jerry Kahale, I hail from Sydney, Australia and I am one of the new reviewers on this dandy blog. I used to write reviews back on my old Seagull Chainsaw blog back in 2011 but that is pretty much dead.  Basically I will review and share stuff I like. If you wish to determine my judgements from my musical endeavors (however that works) I write music under Frame 313, Giygas, Seagull Chainsaw and Cittagazze which as it stands doesn’t exist until we have music up sometime this year. 

Some of my favorite artists at this time in writing  are The Locust, Iron Lung, Sonic Youth, Fear Before The March Of Flames, Antioch Arrow, Das Oath, Sex Vid, Fucked Up, Husker Du, Jerrys Kids, No Comment, Agents Of Abhorrence, Hatred Surge, Straightjacket Nation, Snakeface, Trap Them, Cursed, Carbonas, Masato Nakamura, Takushi Hiyamuta and Wesley Willis. Ask me this another time and the answers will probably be all different except the first four. Sorry I got carried away.
  
'Adjusting'
Purity Control
2012

Review by Jerry Kahale
 
Genre/s: Hardcore, Powerviolence
For Fans of: Endless Blockade, Iron Lung, Sea Of Shit, Cursed, Jenny Piccolo

If you like your hardcore with a little more intuition than four chord blastathons and the intensity ramped up to eleven then Toronto, Canada based Purity Control has got your back. In just under 5 minutes, these six short bursts of unhinged yet well-constructed music that could easily put a lot of the veterans to shame. From the start of the swinging but menacing bass riff at “Dear Life” you can feel that this won’t be ordinary or mediocre. All the tracks stand out and shine in their own way, seldom retreading anything they’ve done before with their mix bag of raging hardcore, powerviolence and just a pinch of mathcore.  Basically they’re a modern Jenny Piccolo (Fun Fact: Purity Control is infact a J.P song) and it seems that there are a lot of Canadian hardcore bands that are really standing out and almost criminally overlooked.

So remember, while Canada has brought us Nickelback, Sum 41, and Three Days Grace they also brought us Leonard Cohen, every project that Chris Colohan has ever been in, Fucked Up and now they bring us Purity Control.  Download it for free right from their bandcamp and if you dig it then grab a copy on vinyl and maybe a shirt too.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Dear Life
2. Insect Politics
3. Swallowing
4. Light Pollution
5. Mock Suicide
6. Gag Order

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