Where they from? Albuquerque, New Mexico. According to Wikipedia, one of the major contributing factors to Albuquerque’s population growth in the earlier years of the 20th century was that its dry climate was considered to be an ideal atmosphere for tuberculosis patients. The first sanatorium for such patients opened in 1902 and by 1915 tuberculosis patients made up more than 20% of the city’s population with the percentage including family members possibly as high as 50%.
What do they sound like? The literal kings of sci-fi skronk.
Why the hype? Much like their peers in P.L.F. (with whom they share the amazing-talented drummer Bryan Farjardo), Noisear are not only currently one of the best, but have been so for the past two decades. This band is the undisputed leader of that small sliver of the grindcore scene that embraces techy/spazztic/dissonant guitar playing and wobbly sci-fi structures that draws equal influence from the hyper-emotional heft of later Discordance Axis albums as much as the madcap subversion of death metal bands like Gorguts. Noisear and bands that have followed in their wake, prove that there is more to grindcore than just being fast and pissed off; sometimes you gotta be WEIRD about it and show off those arpeggios you heard in that one King Crimson song from 1972.
Latest release: A split EP with the equally might F.I.D. I feel like after a few full-lengths ,this band has decided to just release music solely through EPs and splits and, honestly, I commend them for that. The EP format just fits grind better, allowing a band to display their best six to ten songs rather than trying to stretch it to twenty just for the sake of saying it’s a full-length. And this EP definitely has some of their best SKRONK in a while, with “Fuerza” being of particular standout with its opening gyroscopic breakdown being quite memorable. Honestly, if you don’t fuck with this band already, you really need to get on that pronto. SKRONK.
