Where they from?
What can I say about this place that Lena Dunham hasn’t already tweeted after getting rejected by some A-list male celebrity? My mom moved to Greenpoint from Poland in 1966 and her mother lived there for 50 years. I remember all the visits there as a kid and seeing what a Lynchian hellscape the place was, with trash strewn all across the street and everyone smelling like B.O. Nowadays it’s like Disneyland for vegan bike messengers. Fortunately those same hipsters did bring along a metal scene with them but what annoys me is that these people don’t mosh at all at any of the shows. I get you’re trying to look cool in your ironic Entombed Hawaiian shirt, but for the love of god, at least move your body to let these bands know you enjoy their music somewhat.
What do they sound like?
Psychadelic Iron Lung
Why the hype?
I know what you’re saying to yourself “Gene, didn’t a bunch of new grindcore releases come out this past week? Why are you writing about a band whose last album came out two years ago?” The answer to that is: I AM A MAN WITH MY FINGER ON THE PULSE OF THE PEOPLE. Also, I saw these guys play at St. Vitus last week and really wanted to write about them. Don’t like it? Write your congressman.
The big selling point of this band initially was that it featured members of the much beloved but now defunct Water Torture. I admittedly never got too into that band but I will say I really enjoy Stimulant (both the band and the drug). It’s pure arthouse powerviolence completely devoid of any tough guy posturing and they do a pretty good job of putting actual thought and focus into their faster passages. The overall product feels extremely irreverent and subversive, like it’s two guys making music entirely for themselves rather than trying to sound like any other band, a pretty rare feat nowadays in the realm of hardcore/metal.
Latest Release:
Stimulant. A lot of grind/pv bands try to implement noise and soundscapes into their music and I would say 99% it is laughably bad but here it’s actually one of the greatest strengths of this album. Like, just listen to haunting intro to “Emergence” or quasi-industrial hip hop static of “No Fate” and you can see how this band really put a lot of intention into its use of noise rather than just be like “EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING IT, WHY DON’T WE?” It really adds such a huge layer to the overall composition and feeling of the album that you wish more bands would try it but then you remember they do but everyone just sucks at it and you ask yourself why you even listen to this type of music in the first place. Aye Carumba.
