Drill Permanent LP
A vinyl tombstone for Philly trio DRILL, who have finally resurfaced after their 2019 demo cassette only to release this LP in commemoration of breaking up. Eight tracks of skronky, shouty panic punk that have the art-schooled “household appliances as instruments” electro-wave of the first CRASH COURSE IN SCIENCE single positioned as the angel on one shoulder, and the early ’00s tech-hell dance punk agitation of NUMBERS as the devil on the other—cowbell is banged generously, synth whirrs and squiggles and squeals, and gyration-ready bass lines hold everything together like extra-sticky Krazy Glue. The twitchy beats and frayed-nerve shrieks of opener “Within Reason” untangle into an unexpectedly melodic (but still resolutely off-kilter!) sung chorus, and the doubled-up, sing-song chants from bassist Nina and synth player Sonam on “Pipsqueak” provide a playful counterpoint to the band’s wound-up instrumental squirm; Permanent is a continuous push/pull between anxiety and serenity, but as we all know, anxiety always wins, and so did DRILL.