Posts Tagged ‘punk’

EP REVIEW: Chameleon Technology Explore Multimedia Pop Punk on Blank Canvas

Bowtie Ballin'

Pop punk doesn’t have to be a bad thing, a point made over the course of 5 songs on Chameleon Technology’s latest EP Blank Canvas. The project of renowned drummer Max Histrionic, Chameleon Technology (sometimes simply referred to as ChamTech) produces guttural bass-driven punk rock-influenced bursts with melodic guitars and vocals conjuring the full spectrum of hardcore. Yet, the one-man band takes things a step further by turning each live performance into a multimedia art installation in which high quality audio recordings are synced up with video of Histrionic performing each instrument, while he actually plays guitar and sings live. Histrionic virtually and literally becomes his own backing band. The fusion of pop art and sound is Gorillaz meets Gorilla Biscuits.

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Dolores Haze’s Brand of Overdriven lo-fi Punk

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“Their constantly changing dynamism is part of what makes Dolores Haze such a captivating act to follow”- The Line Of Best Fit

“Dolores Haze have au aura about them, an un-f**kwithable attitude that makes them a force to be reckoned with”- Stereogum

“’Touch Me’ is a track that’ll effectively plunge you into the middle of your very own imaginary montage”- Noisey

Swedish music is unstoppable nowadays… Producing world-class acts after acts, from Lykke Li, Icona Pop and Robyn, it’s no surprise their latest addition, in the shape of Dolores Haze, brings top quality yet again. After hitting festivals such as End of the Road and Latitude Festivals this summer Dolores Haze is finally back with an irresistible emotional track to enter the dancefloor of rock clubs.

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EP Review: Boy From the Crowd Channels Diamonds and Glass on Where the Bees Come to Die

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It’s hard to take something as raw as the blues and make it sparkle with unadulterated sheen but on Where the Bees Come to Die, Boy From the Crowd manages rather effortlessly over a mere handful of tracks. The sound never strays far from its initial source leaving the sting of the scraped soulful rock throbbing throughout the EP. Rather they find their corner in the garage, stomp it to their liking, then settle in for the long haul.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Vile Display of Humanity Explore the Tragic and Acidic on Self-Titled Record

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Seattle’s Vile Display of Humanity have crafted a deceptively morose record with their self-titled full length, burying a discordant sense of melancholy beneath layers of thrash, hardcore, and vicious punk rock. The gloom that permeates the record comes on subtly, as if gradually leaked into the savage solution that is their hot nerve shredded sound. But eventually the mournful nuances bond to the acidic hardcore and the effect is that of poison on the tip of a blade.

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Album Review: SNAFU Take Us Beyond the Quarantine Zone on Present Day Plague

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Present Day Plague, the title of Detroit hardcore-thrashers SNAFU’s new full length, fittingly conjures to mind the bacterially infectious shredded punk that saturates its deceptively brief 19 tracks.

“Subhuman Scum” is the first of several segue tracks, moments when we can catch our breath before being dragged into the next pummelling track of concentrated vitriol. There’s a science fiction drone to these segue tracks, accentuated by distorted sampled dialogue. It’s the eerie sound we might hear in our heads as we cross into a quarantine zone, unaware of the fetid abominations we may by provoking. Rolling drums down in the mix hint at the true sound of SNAFU, undiluted by effects and studio wizardy, opting instead for bared wounds braving toxic nights. A build of shrieking feedback marks the quarantine breach and we’re immediately dropped into the all out flash thrash of “Her Dark Past”. From here Present Day Plague plunges like a roller coaster that peaks before you even know it’s moving, conserving all of your alertness for an ever-deepening fall. Yet, it’s not quite a musical free fall as SNAFU exhibit the utmost control amidst hyper-dense shredding, riffs that manage agility, tightness, and an almost tangible thickness, and vocals that sound so raw you can almost smell the iron in the blood.

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