-
neumu
Friday, October 4, 2024 
-
-
--archival-captured-cinematronic-continuity error-daily report-datastream-depth of field--
-
--drama-44.1 khz-gramophone-inquisitive-needle drops-picture book-twinklepop--
-
Neumu = Art + Music + Words
Search Neumu:  

illustration
44.1kHz = music reviews

edited by michael goldbergcontact




Editor's note: We have activated the Neumu 44.1 kHz Archive. Use the link at the bottom of this list to access hundreds of Neumu reviews.

+ Donato Wharton - Body Isolations
+ Svalastog - Woodwork
+ Tim Hecker - Harmony In Ultraviolet
+ Rosy Parlane - Jessamine
+ Jarvis Cocker - The Jarvis Cocker Record
+ Múm - Peel Session
+ Deloris - Ten Lives
+ Minimum Chips - Lady Grey
+ Badly Drawn Boy - Born In The U.K.
+ The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls Together
+ The Blood Brothers - Young Machetes
+ The Places - Songs For Creeps
+ Camille - Le Fil
+ Wolf Eyes - Human Animal
+ Christina Carter - Electrice
+ The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
+ Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye
+ Various Artists - Musics In The Margin
+ Rafael Toral - Space
+ Bob Dylan - Modern Times
+ Excepter - Alternation
+ Chris Thile - How To Grow A Woman From The Ground
+ Brad Mehldau - Live in Japan
+ M Ward - Post-War
+ Various Artists - Touch 25
+ The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely
+ The White Birch - Come Up For Air
+ Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country
+ Coachwhips - Double Death
+ Various Artists - Tibetan And Bhutanese Instrumental And Folk Music, Volume 2
+ Giuseppe Ielasi - Giuseppe Ielasi
+ Cex - Actual Fucking
+ Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
+ Leafcutter John - The Forest And The Sea
+ Carla Bozulich - Evangelista
+ Barbara Morgenstern - The Grass Is Always Greener
+ Robin Guthrie - Continental
+ Peaches - Impeach My Bush
+ Oakley Hall - Second Guessing
+ Klee - Honeysuckle
+ The Court & Spark - Hearts
+ TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain
+ Awesome Color - Awesome Color
+ Jenny Wilson - Love And Youth
+ Asobi Seksu - Citrus
+ Marsen Jules - Les Fleurs
+ The Moore Brothers - Murdered By The Moore Brothers
+ Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope
+ The 1900s - Plume Delivery EP
+ Alejandro Escovedo - The Boxing Mirror
+ Function - The Secret Miracle Fountain
+ Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
+ Loscil - Plume
+ Boris - Pink
+ Deadboy And The Elephantmen - We Are Night Sky
+ Glissandro 70 - Glissandro 70
+ Calexico - Garden Ruin (Review #2)
+ Calexico - Garden Ruin (Review #1)
+ The Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics
+ The Glass Family - Sleep Inside This Wheel
+ Various Artists - Songs For Sixty Five Roses
+ The Fiery Furnaces - Bitter Tea
+ Motorpsycho - Black Hole/Blank Canvas
+ The Red Krayola - Introduction
+ Metal Hearts - Socialize
+ American Princes - Less And Less
+ Sondre Lerche And The Faces Down Quartet - Duper Sessions
+ Supersilent - 7
+ Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time
+ Dudley Perkins - Expressions
+ Growing - Color Wheel
+ Red Carpet - The Noise Of Red Carpet
+ The Essex Green - Cannibal Sea
+ Espers - II
+ Wilderness - Vessel States

44.1 kHz Archive



peruse archival
snippet
    
artist
The Bronx
recording
The Bronx
White Drugs
snippet
rating


What a rush — records with this much shove and stamina don't come along often. Not since the Murder City Devils first slammed me against the wall with 1998's Empty Bottles, Broken Hearts have I been jolted like this. The Bronx are, like the hood they conjure, tougher than your average high school bully, and fully prepared to pound on you.

And like that unexpected tap on the shoulder from someone about to knock you out, the L.A. foursome's self-titled debut opens quietly but threatens to explode. Don't touch the volume yet, lest your ears be split in about 10 seconds. What introduces lead track "Heart Attack American" is quiet, speedy punk rock, but weak compared to the blood-curdling shriek and equally intense blast of sound that follow.

The Bronx sound is loud, ferocious punk rock done right. With the slamming, bottomed-out beats, spiraling dirty riffs and standout bass all circling together like they could fit with none other, the music seems to breathe a life of its own, throbbing with excitement, pulsing in desperation and pushing in anger.

Guitarist Joby J. Ford has developed a one-of-a-kind style, impressively attention-grabbing throughout the 10-track album. His playing has an improvised feel and a moody sound, slightly reminiscent of Johnny Thunders (New York Dolls). At times Ford holds all strings down at once before breaking into another exciting riff. It's difficult to describe, but when you hear it, it sounds like nothing you've heard before. Drumming (by Jorma Vik) is heavy and full of might — buckets of sweat were certainly sacrificed for these explosive beats. And bass (by James Tweedy) is indeed a powerful element on this album, maintaining an ultra-heavy punishing, coming-to-get-you feel.

Songs evoke dizzying images of disease, drugs, depression and death. Throughout are the painful shrieks of lead singer Matt Caughthran. "I don't know where I should begin/ My scars have overrun my skin," Caughthran screams over revved-up, thunderous instrumentation on "Gun Without Bullets." "Frustration's taken all my patience/ Exposing everything inside/ The more time that I spend alone/ Is the more that I hate myself ... I don't know where I feel apart."

While most of the album is led by throaty howls, the melodic but harsh "Notice of Eviction" is an exception; it finds Caughthran offering sweetly impassioned singing atop actual toe-tapping beats. The angry "False Alarm" feels a bit like Fugazi for its edgy minimalism, rubber band riffs and stop-start rhythms. Fueled by eerie, wiry guitar and massive bass, "They Will Kill Us All (Without Mercy)" pisses on LA street culture while feeling ironically attached to it. "We got a new design/ Excess redefined so you can dream it," Caughthran snarls. "We rewrote the standards/ Covered up the old scars so you believe it .../ Good drugs/ Bad streets/ Arms tied/ My world capsized."

Straight to the veins — just like their music.


by Jenny Tatone




-
-snippetcontactsnippetcontributorssnippetvisionsnippethelpsnippetcopyrightsnippetlegalsnippetterms of usesnippetThis site is Copyright © 2003 Insider One LLC
-