Lifes Treading Water LP
Serious contender for my favorite hardcore record of the year over here. Milwaukee duo LIFES have been plugging away with EPs and splits for several years now, and they apparently had been waiting for this one until it was perfect. It is. Sonic destruction of the highest order, with discordant slows and blasts that are nothing short of punishment. Layers of bass tracks are at constant war with dual vocals and drums that struggle to maintain one beat long enough to get you hooked…so instead you just stay anxious. The doses of early ’00s influence come from the chaotic melodies in tracks like “A Four Year Old Contemplates Death,” while the shameless speed and power (and the crushing slows as in “Bitter Cold”) of LIFES that will likely get them lumped in with bands they sound nothing like…well, that’s when they truly sound like no one else. Brutally honest and unforgiving and often uncomfortable lyrically, the voice is delivered with arguably more fury here than the music, which is presented with a fucking massive recording, and any space left in the sound is perfectly filled with sound or samples Á la MOTHERCOUNTRY MOTHERFUCKERS. A completely excellent and very intentional release that I cannot recommend enough. The title track, “Treading Water,” is on repeat all damn day.