The Good Wife - Love Songs

Thankfully The Good Wife managed to tolerate each other's company in the studio long enough to make an album before they split. It's sleazy noise rock stuff along the lines of Pissed Jeans, Jesus Lizard and Cows etc. They did a great 7" on Super Fi records. No vinyl for this jsut a free download on bandcamp

HEBOSAGIL and THROAT - Finnish Noise Rock

Looks like the HEBOSAGIL and THROAT UK Tour is go. Here's what it's going to look like:-

Thurs 5th June - London
Fri 6th June - Bristol
Sat 7th June - Leeds
Sun 8th June - Nottingham

Info on venues and other bands etc will come in time. Be patient. Here's what it'll sound like:-

Today Is The Day - Willpower

One of the greatest albums of all time. A total noise rock classic. One of the best things Amphetamine Reptile ever put out. Their later Relapse stuff that was more metallic was good but this stuff is perfection.

Lawsuits - Future Failure

Discovered this via the excellent Shiny Grey Monotone blog. Their review is here - http://shinygreymonotone.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/lawuits-future-failures.html

Basically it's a mix of stuff like Tar, Jawbox, Drive Like Jehu and Bluetip. They've got the chops and the songwriting nous to back up those kind of comparisons as well.

Nohome - s/t (Trost)

Caspar Brotzmann Massaker reborn!! It's Caspar Brotzmann and friends making a Massaker-esque racket in Berlin last year. If you loved the Caspar Brotzmann Massaker albums then you won't be disappointed. You've probably already got it or have at least pressed play before this paragraph has even ended.

For the uninitiated you're in for a treat. Well, as long as you like harsh experimental guitars blasting at full volume. Caspar Brotzmann is the son of notorious free jazz sax blaster Peter Brotzmann and the apple didn't fall very far from the tree.

Think 80s Sonic Youth at their wildest but more, well just more....

If stuff like The Dead C, Skullflower, Fushitsusha, Swans etc takes you're fancy then you have to check them out. He could teach black metal bands more than a thing or two about outright savage guitar playing.

He was incredible when he played Cafe Oto a while back. Fingers crossed he comes back soon.

Noise Rock - 2013 'scene report'

Noise rock is on fire at the moment. There's a small number of bands putting out absolutely killer stuff at the moment. Pretty much the only thing I'm scrabbling around collecting vinyl of. A lot of it seems to fall through the cracks and not get much attention. That's why I thought I'd bung together a list of the great stuff that's out there in one place.

It's probably worth stating roughly what I'm defining noise rock as to avoid confusion. I'm thinking of the output of labels like Amphetamine Reptile. Bands like Unsane, Helmet, Big Black, Distorted Pony, Glazed Baby, Hammerhead, Fudge Tunnel, 16, Cherubs etc.

It'd include Jesus Lizard but not the millions of post-ATP Lizard wannabe indie bands littering University cities across the world. Nor really the Lightning Bolt/Skin Graft/Load kind of thing (although you definitely need to check out Xaddax). The bands all probably like Swans as well but I'm not talking about hour long brutal doom stuff either.

Hope that makes some kind of sense. Anyway, all the following bands vaguely fit in that description. Also, I fully approve them all as quality noise rock. I can't be bothered finding a load of different ways to say each band is good. Every one of the bands on this list is good. Now go check them out. Oh, and feel free to make any suggestions in the comments. Keeping up with the noise rock tag on this here blog might be a wise idea too

HEBOSAGIL
http://hebosagil.bandcamp.com/
After a killer 7" on Kvlt Of Nihilow the gods of awesome Finnish music, Circle, have released the new LP on their Full Contact label.
A review, another review, another one.
Hebosagil on facebook

THROAT
http://ihatethroat.bandcamp.com/album/manhole
"fans of Unsane, Die 116, Tad, Bastards etc take note and obey." - Collective zine review
Another fantastic noise rock band from Finland. They've been putting out some great releases on Kvlt Of Nihilow, At War With False Noise as well as their own, excellent Kaos Kontrol label

BAXTER STOCKMAN
http://bstockman.bandcamp.com/
"The guitar parts crawl and lurk, reminiscent of the Jesus Lizard or some of the snakier, more aggro moments presented by bands like Crain, Rodan or the Shipping News while anchorage is provided by glutinous lumps of bass gloop that slide and slump ominously in the background" - Collective zine review
Yet more awesome Finnish stuff put out by Kvlt Of Nihilow and Ektro
Baxter Stockman on facebook

LURCH
http://lurchsongs.bandcamp.com/album/demo-april-2013
Think of stuff like Trance Syndicate, Band Of Susans, The God Machine, Foetus, Swans, Old Lady Drivers, Bastro, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Amphetamine Reptile etc. The guitars go from the really noisey end of indie stuff to all out sludge. Vocals go from almost-sung stuff (that's actually comprehensible) to agonised screams.
Lurch on facebook

TILE
http://tilenoise.bandcamp.com/
I've been waiting for this album for quite a while. They put an amazing 7" on Kvlt Of Nihilow but that was back in 2010. Thankfully it doesn't disappoint. It's more top tier noise rock. At times there's Pissed Jeans-esque tunes but generally just thunders the riffs along. Definitely an album I'm picking up on vinyl.
Tile on facebook

DRUNK IN HELL
http://drunkinhell.bandcamp.com/
Best band in the UK by a mile. "Vile noiserock shitstorm" was the description i put on a flyer once. There's been talk of them doing a split with the mighty Kilslug. Fingers crossed for records soon. In the meantime youtube will have to do - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOvOKIm4mdc - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41S2NNUHI-I - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he4W0DVMgK4
Drunk In Hell on facebook

WOLFBAIT
http://artforblind.bandcamp.com/album/w-lfbait
This is sick. Horrid, slow, relentless, pulverising dirge. Swans. Describe themselves as "kraut violence". Imagine Man Is The Bastard covering a Neu song. But a Neu song written by Chrome at their bad acid addled worst. Like being tarred and feathered and thrown into a cesspit.
Wölfbait on facebook

PINK CITY
http://pinkcity.bandcamp.com/album/virgins
Drum machine noise rock duo that "have found some FX and parts sound a bit like Nirvana drunkenly trying to do My Bloody Valentine stuff" Spoonful of tar
Pink City on facebook

WARBRIDES
http://warbrides.bandcamp.com/
Got a bit of math-y Chicago rock going on amongst the noise rock riffage

HYRROKKIN
http://www.decibelmagazine.com/featured/streaming-hyrrokkins-anacoluthon/
Like a jazzier Dazzling Killmen or a punkier Caspar Brotzmann Massaker. the Decibel thingy mentions Dysrythmia and Sonny Sharrock. a friend mentioned Nels Cline and Sun City Girls' jazzy moments.
Hyrrokkin on facebook

FRIEND COLLECTOR
http://friendcollector.bandcamp.com/album/fcii
the awesome Built On A Weak Spot blog compared them to Swans, Glazed Baby and Drunks With Guns. 'nuff said.
Friend Collector on bandcamp

MURDEREDMAN
http://polar-envy.bandcamp.com/album/murderedman
Murderedman on facebook

FAKING
http://faking.bandcamp.com/
Only a raw 3 track demo so far but hopefully there'll be records soon
Faking on facebook

DROSE
http://droseohio.bandcamp.com/album/a-voice-7
Interview at Destroyed Human, Collective review
Drose on facebook


DIRTDRINKER
http://dirtdrinker.bandcamp.com/album/s-t-lp
If you like stuff like Unsane, Ken Mode, Kowloon Walled City and Coalesce then you're going to be into this. It kind of exists in the grey area between noise rock and the good offkilter end of metallic hardcore (ie Hydrahead, Kiss It Goodbye, Botch, Deadguy etc). In some places the vocals even reach Steve Austin of Today Is The Day levels of intensity.
Dirtdrinker on facebook

PORNOGRAPHY
http://prngrphy.bandcamp.com/
"horrid Swans style noise rock. Repetitive dischords battered out in a most uncomfortable manner." according to me
Destroyed Human review

KOWLOON WALLED CITY
http://kowloonwalledcity.bandcamp.com/album/container-ships
Their first 2 albums, Turk Street and Gambling On The Richter Scale that Feast Of Tentacles put out are totally essential. Pounding rhythmic noise rock stuff. New album veers into a slightly more shoegaze-y sound but is still awesome. UK tour long overdue.
Kowloon Walled City on facebook

TIDE OF IRON
http://shybairnsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tide-of-iron-sow-ep
http://superfirecords.bandcamp.com/album/split-7-3
Keelhaul/Today Is The Day inspired stuff from Newcastle. Only a split on Super Fi Records so far. In the meantime, this video they made of Bill Cosby dancing to one of their songs is quality - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0BqXqoLgp4

ART OF BURNING WATER
http://artofburningwater.bandcamp.com/album/this-disgrace
"AOBW channel the prime noise-rock of vintage Zeni Geva and Godflesh with the more complex rhythmical riff obsessions of the Melvins, Keelhaul and mid-period Voivod" according to their press release - http://spoonfuloftar.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/art-of-burning-water-this-disgrace-riot.html
Art Of Burning Water on facebook

GODSTOPPER
http://godstopper.bandcamp.com/
"Somewhere between the Thunder-Pop of sparkly heavy-hitters Torche, the aggressive sludge of fellow Floridians Cavity and the awkward stop-start dream-logic quasi-operatic noise rock of Pony Express Record-era Shudder To Think" - Sleeping Shaman
"stop thinking and get deep into a dichotomous band where dream pop meets nightmare metal, with a healthily unusual mixing of chiming major chords and filthy bass stabs together with chanting underpinned by crushing doom" - Collective zine review
Godstopper on facebook

BONE
http://boneband.bandcamp.com/album/for-want-of-feeling
Melbourne, Australia must be a bleak place. This lot have got a sparse, post-punk thing going on. kind of taut basslines with those old goth-y tom-heavy drums. But then there's also hints of 90s touch and go, Bastro, God Machine, Trumans Water and similar things.
Bone on facebook

SINKING SUNS
http://sinkingsuns.bandcamp.com/
The excellent folk over at Shiny Grey Monotone mentioned Killdozer, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Scratch Acid, Tar, Crucifucks, Big'N, Sicbay and Distorted Pony in their review.
Sinking Suns on facebook

Well, there you go. A bunch of awesome noise rock bands. By the way, there's a gig in London waiting for any of these bands plus some help sorting a UK tour.

Flaum Adger - s/t (ex-Jesus Lizard)

Folk from Jesus Lizard and Dis- get together to make a record of classic Chicago style underground rock.

Relatively tuneful which gives it a bit of a Tar feel in places.

Tyranny Is Tyranny - Let It Come From Whom It May

Think 90s Ebullition/Crimethinc putting out a noise rock/Amphetamine Reptile type band. Maybe something like Torches To Rome crossed with Ire but with more Hammerhead than hardcore in the riffs. Lots of rhythmic guitar stuff, a few 'twinkles', some heavy bits. Seriously good stuff.

Trumans Water/Birdbath split

Well bugger me, Trumans Water are still going. Great news as they're a total 90s underground classic. Like a bastard punk rock Sonic Youth or something.

Was just watching this recently unearthed live footage of Trumans Water from 1993 and thought I'd check out what they're doing now.



Birdbath are alright too. Kind of math-y noisey indie rock stuff. You could imagine them playing with Bilge Pump.

Dirtdrinker - s/t (noise rock)

If you like stuff like Unsane, Ken Mode, Kowloon Walled City and Coalesce then you're going to be into this. It kind of exists in the grey area between noise rock and the good offkilter end of metallic hardcore (ie Hydrahead, Kiss It Goodbye, Botch, Deadguy etc). In some places the vocals even reach Steve Austin of Today Is The Day levels of intensity. They've got a good sense of dynamics and song structure as well. Certainly not one dimensional.

Fucking great stuff. So good I'm going to track down the vinyl rather than jsut buying the flac.

Pink City - Virgins

More great noise rock stuff. Not as pounding and brutal as earlier Pink City stuff. They've found some FX and parts sound a bit like Nirvana drunkenly trying to do My Bloody Valentine stuff. I mean that as a compliment ;-)

Still lots of heavy thudding guitars and screeds of noise though.

Great stuff. Get on it.

Art Of Burning Water song from new 7"

Mentioned before about how fucking awesome Art Of Burning Water are

This is a song from a forthcoming 7". Quality noise rock ('math metal?) riffage.

You can't download it just yet but the label seems to have all it's other releases available as 'pay what you like' downloads.

tile - You Had A Friend In Pennsylvania

I've been waiting for this album for quite a while. They put an amazing 7" on Kvlt Of Nihilow but that was back in 2010.

Thankfully it doesn't disappoint. It's more top tier noise rock. At times there's Pissed Jeans-esque tunes but generally just thunders the riffs along.

Definitely an album I'm picking up on vinyl.

Pornography - Heaven (noise rock)

Think I must be getting old because my reaction to this band name is to roll my eyes and sigh.

Crap name aside, this is some horrid Swans style noise rock. Repetitive dischords battered out in a most uncomfortable manner.

Good shit.

Melvins - Everybody Loves Sausages (Ipecac)

Juno are selling the wav of this for £10.99.. Can't find FLAC anywhere. Ironically, Boomkat now have the CD on sale for £6.99.

OK, it's the Melvins. If you don't love the Melvins then you might as well stop reading now. Go out and buy a copy of Lysol or Houdini or something and sort your pitiful life out.

Everyone else is probably aware that this is them doing covers with an occasional guest appearance. Not a million miles away from the Crybaby album. Personally that's one of my favourite. This isn't too shabby either.

Kicks off with a great version of Warhead by Venom. Let's start off with a controversial opinion - the Melvins version is better than the Venom version. For a start it doesn't lead into total dross like Lady Lust.

Instead they go into You're My Best Friend by Queen. Great song. Great cover. Then it's straight onto an awesome version of Black Betty. Dale or Coady turn out some awesome cowbell action on this one.

Can't be bothered going through every song but some highlights are a version of Station To Station by David Bowie with JG Thirwell of Foetus joining in for 10 minutes of kraut-esque joy; Timothy Leary Lives by a totally obscure KBD type punk band; and Heathen Earth by Throbbing Gristle finishing things off is a treat. Ooh, one more, Tom Hazelmeyer (of Halo Of Flies and head honcho of Amphetamine Reptile Records) joining in for a snotty version of Art School by the Jam.

If you like Melvins and generally have good taste in music then this one is a no brainer.

Friend Collector - FCII (noise rock)

Discovered this via the excellent Built On A Weak Spot blog. A great place to find new noise rock stuff. Sadly it's stopping. Real shame.

Anyway, they compared this to Drunk With Guns, Glazed Baby and Swans.

Got to agree that this is good stuff. Filthy Am Rep noise rock. Nothing quite beats it.

Bologna Violenta - The Sound Of compilation series (Grindcore Karaoke)

What does a band sound like when their entire discography is played at the same time? A glorious, hideous mess. That's what.

Surprisingly, it also makes for quite interesting listening. Actually listened to quite a few of these so far. Honestly, I thought I'd listen to about a minute of one of them, have a laugh, and then just forget about it. Not the case though.

Should mention Grindcore Karaoke have put up a whole series of these albums. 40 artistst get the Bologna Violenta treatment in total. Everything from Abba to Pantera.

The Charles Bronson track above is a good place to start as it's a mere one and a half minutes long. Gives you an idea of how it all works and how you you can hear sounds fade in and out. Also, shows how the sound changes dramatically towards the end as less songs are playing.

It sounds like 7 Minutes Of Nausea or something like that. Or a bit like the Anal Cunt 7" with 5643 songs on it. AC basically recorded short songs layered on top of each other. Total mess.

The Abba track sounds good as well. You can occasionally pick up bits of melodies from the gloop. Not a million miles away from the racket V/VM used to make.

It makes you feel a bit like Johnny 5 from Short Circuit when you're listening to it. Absolute headfuck.

Lurch - demo (ex-Drainland)

This is one hell of a demo.

Think of stuff like Trance Syndicate, Band Of Susans, The God Machine, Foetus, Swans, Old Lady Drivers, Bastro, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Amphetamine Reptile etc.

The guitars go from the really noisey end of indie stuff to all out sludge. Vocals go from almost-sung stuff (that's actually comprehensible) to agonised screams.

Hope there's more of this to come soon.

Chelsea Light Moving - s/t (Matador)

http://boomkat.com/downloads/663793-chelsea-light-moving-chelsea-light-moving

This is as good as 80s Sonic Youth.

Just thought I'd mention that first in case you were liable to skip over this review due to the phrase "Thurston Moore's new band".

I nearly gave Chelsea Light Moving a miss because of this but I'm glad I didn't. Definitely worth taking a leap of faith to get over that gut feeling it's just going to be average at best.

It's got a slightly more punk feel to it than Sonic Youth and I'm not just saying that due to it finishing with Communist Eyes. It strips out the slightly nicer pro-sound and becomes a lot more jarring and heavy without descending into just some self indulgent guitar noise noodling.

There's some really great bits where it almost reaches Caspar Brotzmann Massaker or High Rise levels of glorious, horrible atonal guitar riffing. At other points there's actual chug riffs.

And, of course, there's plenty of bits that don't sound a million miles away from 80s Sonic Youth.

Art Of Burning Water - This Disgrace (Riot Season/Super Fi/Swarm Of Nails)

"AOBW channel the prime noise-rock of vintage Zeni Geva and Godflesh with the more complex rhythmical riff obsessions of the Melvins, Keelhaul and mid-period Voivod" according to the press release. I don't think I've ever read such an accurate sentence on a one-sheet before.

Basically, Art Of Burning Water are the UK's best kept secret. For over a decade they've been bashing out top notch noise rock riffs. In the past couple of years they've really been stepping it up quite a bit and this 4th LP has come along while their last one is still hot. I'm not arguing though because it's great to hear these songs that have absolutely killed live finally being recorded.

Although most of the riffs are pretty complicated they have a raw, fluid looseness to them which keeps them on the punk side of things. And, despite some odd time signatures, there's a swing and a groove to the music. Your head will be banging constantly although onlookers might give you strange looks due to your odd movements.

Art Of Burning Water also have that other vital element - hooks. You can't really whistle the tunes but you will get riffs stuck in your head.

And they don't mind repeating a simplistic riff now and again or chugging away on one note. Very satisfying.

Generally it's that style but Since His Collapse is a bit of a change. Gets a lot more intriciate and math-rocky. Perhaps like their old touring partners American Heritage. Weird time signatures and abstract guitar lines all over the place. They do finish it off with a cheeky e-chug riff (although it's completely un-moshable).

Fingers crossed they stick around for at least another decade.