Monday, December 27, 2010

Grind in Rewind 2010: The Kids are Alright

I consciously try not to be that grumpy old dude who’s constantly complaining about how awesome things were when I was a young’un. As far as I’m concerned, musically, things are only getting better. Media fragmentation and the demise of the record label business model have shattered the entertainment landscape, weeding out those doing it for a paycheck and forcing the next generation of the truly dedicated to throw themselves out there and face the consequences. A lot of really cool demos have crossed my laptop this year, forcing me to reconsider my outlook on the pending collapse of all civilization as we know it into a Taylor Swiftian apocalypse of musical suck. The kids are alright as long as they keep banging out music this inventive. Here are five unsigned bands that won me over in 2010.

5. No Gang Colors
This is Your God
This is your god, and he really hates your ass. He insists on torturing you with electronic amalgams of clicking grind and harsh, psychedelic white noise. This is what would have happened if Justin Broadrick didn’t totally abandon grind for industrial post-Napalm Death. Encomiums to weed and power tools seem like a great way to lose a finger, but it’s also a perfect way to spend 11 minutes of your life.

4. Amputee
Demo
Two minutes. That’s all it took for New Jersey’s Amputee to cement themselves firmly in my affections. Yes, they sound like Assuck. No, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The fact that I could listen to their four song demo about three times before I finished typing this makes it all the better.

3. Standing on a Floor of Bodies
Teaching Pigs to Sing
Rising from the ashes of Thousandswilldie, one man band Standing on a Floor of Bodies ear rape four minutes of your life with an all bass ’n’ drum machine assault on your higher cortical functions. It’s got all the atmosphere of a suffocating horror film soundscape crammed into seven claustrophobic songs that won’t let go until those tentacled abominations in the basement decide they’re done with you.

2. Robocop
Demo 2009
Part man. Part machine. All power violence. Ryan “Body Hammer/Rational Punk” Page and his Robocop friends set out to torture hardcore with their seven track demo. Every instrument rattles against the others like clashing pots in an earthquake-addled kitchen producing a delightful racket of impassioned, urgent hardcore. And their most recent offerings have only spiraled off into more aggressive, abrasive directions.

1. Satellite Sleep
Demo
Satellite Sleep’s three songs of aquatically-tinged Australian hardcore just keep getting better with each listen. For a demo, the band just nailed that perfect somnambulant atmosphere, rising above the rest. This is what Eraserhead’s lady in the radiator sequence would have sounded like if it were filtered through post-millennial hardcore. Everything is hazy and disorienting but wonderfully riveting all at the same time.

18 comments:

Luke Oram said...

2010 was quite a year in Grind for me.
Here is a listette of STRICTLY underground grind-related bands I have played with in the last 12 months:

http://www.myspace.com/machoinsecurity

http://www.myspace.com/rocklikeergon

http://www.myspace.com/vbgrind

http://www.myspace.com/theafternoongentlemen

http://www.myspace.com/theatrocityexhibit

http://www.myspace.com/skatinject0r

Alex Layzell said...

Excellent choices, I am most excited about Amputee though, I have been waiting for the next incarnation of Assuck (Cellgraft don't quite do it for me)

Will said...

I'm digging amputee as well. As for the other four that you mentioned, I'll pass.

Unknown said...

Cellgraft is SICK.
I'm still real fond of No master. I highly recommend you guys check them out. Also see Sucked Dry.

Unknown said...

no gang colors has been yanking my chain by promising a new release in november of 2010 with no results. need more electro-whatever it is grind!

Invisible Oranges said...

Heh, I accidentally heard Taylor Swift the other day and was shocked at bad she was. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, though.

Unknown said...

That would require her to be literate.

NO GANG COLORS said...

Very psyched to be on this list!

@da tr00f The new release (it's just a single) had to get pushed back to January 2011. But there's a full-length in the works for hopefully the fourth quarter of 2011 as well.

Bill Willingham IV, Esquire said...

Maybe not quite the same animal, but if you're after electro-grind spazz then maybe "Beastmode" by White Eyes can tide you over until the new No Gang Colors releases.

Zmaj said...

White Eyes is fucking awesome DxAx worship. Andrew, definitely give it a listen if you already haven't!

PatrickDM said...

if anybody is a fan of flesh parade, their new album comes out today.

PatrickDM said...

im diggin white eyes

PatrickDM said...

i ordered it yesterday, so they sent me a download link so i could listen to it until my cd came in.

i've listened to it 4x this morning.

Luke Oram said...

Quite a few of the kids a raving about extortion as well.

Unknown said...

@no gang colors: sweet! stoked to hear the single, and when it comes around, i will be even more stoked for the full length.

ill have to check out white eyes. i really love that jazzy freak out stuff. cant remember who, but someone awhile ago recommended le scrawl and ive been digging them ever since.

Vegas said...

I'm a big fan of the music Ryan makes, and Robocop is a great band. It's good stuff!

Ryan Page said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ryan Page said...

Thank you sir. We just finished the master of the full (finally) album, so it should be arriving in friend's mailboxes soon.