Where they from?
Washington D.C. When I was about 11 years old, my dad took our family on a trip to D.C. and I remember him telling me that the city’s roads had been designed to be confusing on purpose so that if any foreign army were to invade our capital they would have difficulty navigating it’s streets. Well, after skimming nearly the entire Wikipedia article on Washington, I have found no mention of this anywhere. Basically, by researching this article I found out my dad is a liar and my image of him as a man has been completely destroyed.
What do they sound like?
A mish-mash of really good bands but ultimately I feel like they’d fit in on A389 if that label was still a thing.
Why the hype?
I was explaining to someone just the other day how the whole D.C./Baltimore/Virginia region is a hotbed for American grind/powerviolence and I remembered the stellar record this band had just put out. I’ve heard people compare them to Magrudergrind and though such a comparison might be tempting I feel that ultimately Needle is a different animal. First of all, the song structures here are more chaotic, spazztic and jarring, much more akin to a powerviolence bands like Cave State and Chainsaw to the Face than anything Avi Kulawy and co. managed during their tenure as American grind kings (this is not a knock against them at all, one thing I love about Magrudergrind is that they’re basically the American version of Eurogrind bands like Rotten Sound and Nasum). Also, this is not a band afraid to slam! Some of the groovier passages can tap into Ground levels of ignorance, and if you’ve learned nothing else from this column, just know that I fucking love Ground. My dad says he loves Ground too, but we all know he’s a FUCKING LIAR!
Latest Release?
S/T, their debut full-length. “S/T” stands for “Self-Titled”, did you know that? I did not. Anywho, like I previously mentioned this is an album enveloped in chaos that only peels away the insanity to deliver truly punishing breakdowns and caveman mosh parts, such as at the end of “Extinction Blast” and “Reaper Descends.” Also, there’s a fair amount of guitar feedback here but I actually don’t mind it too much. That is the true sign of an album that’s grown on me. Now excuse me, I need to go crowdkill my dad.
