Where to begin, where to begin...? I've been curious about this band for years as they always seemed interesting to me, but I never bothered to look into much of their stuff. Then I heard a track from this disc on a sampler and it was cool, so I said, "Fuck it," and picked it up. I'll begin by stating that if every song on this fucker was as good as opener "To All Mothers" I'd probably blow my face off, because this track is so fucking amazing and powerful I can't even believe it... the somber acoustic guitars, the calm yet somehow eerie singing vocals... fucking amazing. A strange way to kick off a record, and not representative of most of their material, but a damn fine start to say the least. The rest of the material is in more of an angular sort of heavy indie type of vein, but it's still very creative and forceful, and I absolutely worship the vocals. Never in my life have I heard such unique vocals, and I'm impressed. I don't even know how to describe them, they're so hoarse and textured... not quite singing, not yelling or shouting... totally fucked... totally fucked... and they're worth a million bucks as a result. You'll never hear another vocalist that sounds like this, and that's a rare, rare circumstance. Musically there's a great mix of caustic guitar textures, varying degrees of melody, a strong rhythmic focus, lots of tempo changes, a good sense of overall energy/atmosphere, etc. From straightforward melodic chords to quirky noises, pull-off riffs, octave chords, etc. "Pigs" is shorter and definitely on the more frantic side of things; "Say Not a Word" is a bit more linear and dynamic than some of the other compositions with a minimal quiet break where distortion drops back a bit, as well as some really emotive melodic chords; the brief "No Prize Fighter" brings back the acoustic guitars and softer vocals with more of a singing tinge, "A Six Inch Valley" gets much more rhythmic in a sense and breaks off a few guitar lines that harness a darker edge (not metallic, but hinting at an unexpected air reminiscent of such); etc. "Spring Divorce" is another awesome standout, with some different guitar effects happening as well as some piano and smatterings of such additional textures that build up for an intense and incredible ending sequence. The production totally kills as well. Everything is loud, clear, and perfectly defined. The basslines are prominent and usually run their own course between the percussion and guitar parts, the guitars usually layer independently panned parts together to create a more coherent whole, the vocals are placed right in the heart of it all, etc. Also notable is that the drum tones are perfectly natural and resonant and the guitars are "heavy" even when the music isn't, per se - getting a good bite during the more acerbic moments but retaining enough control to hold things in line and keep a tight performance value. Great work. The layout is somewhat simple but has enough subtleties to look excellent. Things are mostly text with a few small high contrast band photos, but the booklet folds in an unusual pattern with two small flaps overlapping the cover. The panel of artwork shows an illustration of a stack of bodies and the text outside the packaging is done in metallic silver foil inlays. The lyrics are amazing in my opinion, at times so abstract that the message seems a bit larger, and others seemingly more intensely personal, though still creative enough to leave things unanswered. I'm highly impressed by the power of some of the lines, though. "It crept to me like a cancer in my sleep. It gnawed the meat right from these bones. And so it seems somewhere, somehow, the wonder was stolen. And the truths we've held were squandered or sold. And these walls will find us beggars, liars, and whores. It's getting colder quicker and we're putting bets on who's quickest to leave. We've picked our poison, talked shit, but couldn't choke it down. We tap the vein. We taint the trust. This silver spoon has been licked to rust. If this is a test, we're failing." This is an awesome record. I'm not sure how it compares to their prior work, really. My instincts would tell me that this is likely a bit of a major progressions from a similar foundation built on their prior recordings, but either way I'm kicking myself for not having been into them sooner. Very, very nice. And just check out "To All Mothers", god damnit that shit is fucking impressive... I love it.
[No Idea]
Running time - 46:02, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: To All Mothers, Belly Full of Hell, Say Not a Word, Spring Divorce]
Planes Mistaken for Stars - http://www.pmfs.net
