Reviews

Future Shock

Beige Banquet Ornamental Hermit LP

BEIGE BANQUET is anything but beige when it comes to their musical style. They bring an almost artsy and darker vibe to punk, utilizing both distorted bass lines and heavy percussion at times. What gripped me most was the haunting repetition of vocal lines that were layered over noisy and gloomy instruments. They’re able to smoothly transition from a slightly heavier and noisier energy in “Parasitic Energy” to a quieter percussion solo in the intro of “Mind Lapse”, which I find just really well done. The use of spoken words was really interesting too, and kept me on my toes. Overall, BEIGE BANQUET brings a unique twist and energy to punk.

Corker A Bell That Seems To Mourn cassette

Future Shock seems to have its fingers set square on the pulse of the Cincinnati scene. A throbbing Cinci scene? Tis true—there has been a spate of excellent bands rising from the silt of the Ohio River basin, and CORKER is yet another winner dredged up and slapped onto tape. With a hat-tip to PERE UBU, the four songs here nod northward towards Columbus, recalling recent (NECROPOLIS) and current (DANA) practitioners of one of the Buckeye State’s signature musical exports—avant-garage. There’s a shade more UK post-punk being aired out on this EP than most Midwestern bands of this ilk, but CORKER manages to turn damp into dank.

Nag Fear cassette

Atlanta punk lifer Brannon Greene and his hardcore punk-tinged deathrock/post-punk outfit NAG—not to be confused with his deathrock/post-punk-tinged hardcore punk outfit PREDATOR—are back with a new cassette. And aside from a few tracks that could be pulled from either project, the seven tracks that make up this release really distinguish NAG as a separate entity. The base sound here is something akin to that first RIKK AGNEW solo record—driving, bleakly melodic guitar, intricate bass interplay, and maybe a light synth (or studio effects that make a guitar sound like a synth) from time to time—but they are really upping the goth this here. A track like “Nike Gate” starts off with JOY DIVISION bass melody before sliding into something like a sludgier version of early SISTERS OF MERCY. It’s some of the starkest stuff they’ve put out. Other tracks remind me a bit of CLAN OF XYMOX, albeit a punker, more organic version of that band. Of course, there are still a handful of rippers—album opener “Pupil” is among my favorite tracks from any of Greene’s projects.  Just another top-to-bottom great release from a great band!

Potpourri Potpourri cassette

Here’s a beguiling one, a short broadcast of weirdness from Omaha that is shivering with cold and tape hiss. It really is an exercise in presentation, as the degraded quality of sound perfectly mirrors the metronomic soundtrack to collapse. Contemporaries that leap to mind are INSTITUTE and even DAWN OF HUMANS, although I don’t recall either of those bands ever incorporating bongos into their sound. Well, guess what, POTPOURRI goes for it, and although at first blush my ears were trying to pinpoint what the hell it was, it actually lends an interesting layer. Everything here sounds like it was either intricately placed or improvised entirely, the kind of balanced chaos that perfectly suits a certain type of heady, lo-fi punk. The guitar has a really nice sonorous tone to it in addition to being harsh and tinny—one of the many balancing acts going on that really make this band shine. It’s feel-bad music that feels really good.

The Drin Engines Sing for the Pale Moon cassette

Cassette-only mystery music from Cincinnati, OH. I imagine this was developed as a COVID-enforced winter project of long days alone with a four-track, and you can hear the masonry of them building each song brick-by-brick. Stylistically, it’s experimental, touching on an erudite record head’s exploration of motorik rhythms, coldwave synth sines, dub-heavy production, and propulsive post-punk basslines, notably the chunky riff that gives the second tune “Guillotine Blade” all of its life. The album leans on developing a mood through textural soundscapes and less on classic songwriting, but when a catchy chorus or a well-honed hook appears, that’s when this album really works and has that CLEANERS FROM VENUS feeling of it being more like a live band rather than recorded alone. If this was released as a two-song 7″ containing the tunes “Down Her Cheek a Pearly Tear” and “For the Tsarina” on the flip, I’d be reaching for my turntable to hear those two over and over.

The Drin Down River in the Distance LP

I reviewed the last DRIN release, and when the opportunity came up to review this one, I was interested in hearing what this mysterious project has come up with next. Down River in the Distance cranks up the murk and expands the bleak, dubby spaciousness. The drums take a big step forward in the mix, the bass providing more of a felt frequency. The prettier strummed chords and more melancholy minors are replaced with fuzz-fracked brittle guitars that crackle as if coming from a shortwave radio. It’s psychedelic, but with a color palette that’s only swirling with muddy grays.