Review: Clockcleaner “The Hassler” CD

Another unexpected twist from the unpredictable Manic Ride label, this time with six tracks of frantic hardcore/punk fused with noise rock styled material for lots of angular guitar riffs chock full of discordant flare with a rock solid rhythm section and vocals that sort of waver between singing, speaking, and yelling - mixed deep in against the music. Most of the songs are shorter than one would anticipate, only two topping a minute-and-a-half, keeping the EP very focused and consistent overall. "Bad Man" flirts with a few more rocked out chord progressions and is slightly more memorable than the other songs, "Shingles" runs a massive seven minutes (far longer than the other tracks) and eventually delves into some meandering guitar parts over a repetitive bass/drum groove (though its core is borderline catchy), "S. Dingo" really drives up the level of caustic lead guitar noise but the power of the bassline really holds everything down perfectly, etc. Their influences have been stated to range from Black Flag and Big Black to The Jesus Lizard, and that sounds about right considering the results here. I love the recording. It's warm, natural, and mixed very tightly. The drums sound fucking perfect, the bass sounds even better, the vocals are absolutely excellent for this approach and their placement in the mix is dead on, etc. I'm also a big fan of the chunky yet really crisp and rugged guitar texture and the way it works with the bass. Very nice. It scarcely gets much better for this playing style, I have to admit. I like the layout here. The painting on the cover is of a pretty different style than most of what you'll see, and it's great that they keep text to an absolute minimum. Period. All you get outside is the band name and the title of the EP, and inside you'll see the tracklist, lineup, and quick credits over a straight black spread. Nice. This is a very strong EP. Rarely does this style win me over completely, but these guys have totally succeeded. Great job.