Weekly Worship is a new weekly column that we are going to run, you guessed it, weekly. It is going to feature paragraph long reviews of albums that hearwax contributors love and want to share with you. So here goes #1!
Circle Takes The Square – As The Roots Undo
That unassuming mournful line of notation fades into the audible; with whistling. Yes, and opening the final track is the same iteration, only transferred to lonely guitar, then crashing down in chords like the world around you. As The Roots Undo is the 2004 sophomore effort from Circle Takes The Square. The Georgia quartet began life with a crust fueled little EP and split with the like-minded Pg. 99, but even the quality of that output did not come close to heralding the greatness of Roots. Everything about this disc is urgent. While the ethereal usage of melody and various uses of counterpoint add richness to this tapestry, this is violently impressionistic. CTTS are really the first and only band to pull off, what I would call (much to my detriment), a post grind style. In fact, when playing Brutal Truth‘s Sounds Of The Animal Kingdom and As The Roots Undo back to back, the full realization and refinement of grind immediately comes to the forefront. Yes, they are a grindcore band, but only borrow grind’s speed and ferocity to get their point across as clear as they can. This album does not waste time trying things, but merely pulls all facets of experimentation and arrangement off. The mid album track “Interview At The Ruins” has one of the most heartbreaking melodies ever conceived, and is payed off through a series of build ups and emotionally rending passages. Later, we proceed into “Kill The Switch” which begins with 2 minutes of manic grind that then drops into a diminished chord groove, later gaining momentum until the monumental breakdown; “Somewhere Out There Is A Thrill”… It is a masterclass in creating heavy moments that are earned. The disc is not without it’s quirks (that is to say, it is not an album that is devoted to tragedy), as tracks like “Crowquill” and “In the Nervous Light Of Sunday” have a unique post hardcore thump with enough personality to embrace the bizarre. Instrumentally, the unrelenting art drums, and the constant dual vocal attack (both featuring female and male cries of outrage) never allow the momentum to drop (however, this is not an exasperating listen). Lyrically, it is lofty, involving concepts of God delusion and ethical responsibility, yet every song literally and conceptually bleeds into the next. It is a testament to heavy music that this album is one of the few that transcend it; any aggressive or genre staple techniques are only used for their purpose of expression, and as such, this is an experience that should be applicable for everyone. The embrace of unrestrained emotion, true unabashed expression never devolves into theatricality or melodrama, and thank God. We needed something like this.
Note; It has been five years since Circle Takes The Square have released any material, so be sure to check out Hearwax favourites Orgone for a like-minded band with as much impact. Ritual Of Names, 2009!
- Alec
Drive Like Jehu – Yank Crime
Quick! Get drummer/producer extraordinaire Mark Trombino to play a beat in 12/8 while John Reis and Rick Froberg pair equally discordant chord progressions on top of Mike Kennedy’s plowing bass line. Throw in alternating octaves and try earnestly to sing about devastation through metaphor, and you’ve meshed the basic wiring beneath Yank Crime‘s heart-stopping opener, “Here Come the Rome Plows.” Seriously, turn this thing up enough and your chest will confuse the stuttering polyrhythms as its own heart’s beat. Close up shop and leave the math rock behind for the second-best track on the album, “Do You Compute.” drone on and the rhythm section sets a tent over the earnest smirk of Froberg as he states, “do you compute? I think you do.” Or is he even smirking at all?
Yank Crime came out in 1994 and sucker-punched every snot-nosed elitist in the underground community. It’s math-rock, it’s post-hardcore, it’s emo, and it can simultaneously break your nose and weep while it continues its assault. After this album, the band broke up and went on to other musical pastures. While each are great in their own right, you can’t do much better than this. Many bands have done post-hardcore, but few have had such an impact.
- Nick
Millionaire – Paradisiac
Belgium’s Millionaire lucked out; They are a band obviously influenced by Queens of the Stone Age, and had QOTSA’s Josh Homme produce their brilliant full-length Paradisiac. Released in 2005, it was a record that would have easily fit into the QOTSA catalogue. But where QOTSA would go darker and poppier with Lullabies to Paralyze, Millionaire would strip the sound down to what made Queens so awesome in the first place…dirty guitars, thick bass lines, and vocals that range from gentle croons to Matthew Bellamy-like highs. Tracks like “I’m On A High” and “Alpha Male” define good rock music, while “We Don’t Live There Anymore” is quite simply one of the best rock songs you will ever hear. Josh must have especially loved “For A Maid”, a track that sounds like a lost Desert Sessions number, minus the varied personnel. Millionaire don’t stray from their musical path very often on Paradisiac, but when they do, it sounds fuckin great. Check out the slower “Rise And Fall”, a progressive track that emulates the title, or the acoustic number “Ballad Of Pure Thought” if you need proof. Best of all, Paradisiac doesn’t need versatility – these dudes know what they are doing, and they do it to perfection – and yet, there it is, all wrapped up underneath the Christmas tree.
Much like Josh said about Queens, Millionaire’s Paradisiac is “heavy enough for the guys, and sweet enough for the girls”. It’s too bad that Millionaire have seemingly evaporated into Belgian air – they could show the rookies around here how to write a good rock song.
- Logan
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