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A deranged cacophony straight out of London, England.
On their debut, self-titled release, VIOLIN blend elements of Swedish masters TOTALITÄR and HEADCLEANERS with the muscle and swagger of Boston 82 and the panicked power of NYHC in the mid 80s. The end result is a Mind numbingly fast and concise pure hardcore punk that is all together contemporary, edging in at times on the learned idiocy of Toronto’s S.H.I.T.
VIOLIN is the brainchild of Lindsay Corstorphine (SAUNA YOUTH, MONOTONY, PRIMITIVE PARTS etc) who has written, mixed and recorded everything on this stellar release, with the exception of the drums, here carried out by the inimitable Jonah Falco of FUCKED UP fame. Pinning Falco’s drumming to Corstorphine's vision has nailed a sound which is at once huge and perfectly audible, whilst remaining brutal and ugly in tone.
There are moments of genuine innovation on display as is evident on the track ‘Empty Mind’ which begins with discordant noise, before building from a mid-paced swing into frantic lunacy, and then introducing a harrowing and unexpected synthesiser.
The stark black and white artwork, carried out by Daniel David Freeman, provides a perfectly abstract and menacing back drop to this slab of primitive hardcore. ($arny)
Our take: La Vida Es Un Mus brings us the debut release from this London project masterminded by Lindsay Corstorphine, who handled everything here save the drums, where he gets an assist from Jonah Falco, who needs no introduction. I am a fan of Lindsay’s band Sauna Youth, and while Violin’s angry hardcore doesn’t have much in common with Sauna Youth’s eclectic sound on the surface, there are high levels of skill and artistic ambition apparent in both projects. Not that this is prog or anything—the intro riff to “Empty Mind” is about as straightforward as you can get—but by the end of that very song there’s a synth whirring out a sinister melodic line where you’d expect the Ginn-influenced atonal lead to go. Moments like that and the off-kilter harmonized leads on “Chaos at the Seance” are my favorite parts the record, though even when Violin is in kill mode they have an artsy undercurrent that reminds me of Hologram or one of the other noisy and brainy fast hardcore bands on La Vida Es Un Mus or Iron Lung Records. Those of us with a taste for that approach will like the way Violin puts new wrinkles in old sheets.
On their debut, self-titled release, VIOLIN blend elements of Swedish masters TOTALITÄR and HEADCLEANERS with the muscle and swagger of Boston 82 and the panicked power of NYHC in the mid 80s. The end result is a Mind numbingly fast and concise pure hardcore punk that is all together contemporary, edging in at times on the learned idiocy of Toronto’s S.H.I.T.
VIOLIN is the brainchild of Lindsay Corstorphine (SAUNA YOUTH, MONOTONY, PRIMITIVE PARTS etc) who has written, mixed and recorded everything on this stellar release, with the exception of the drums, here carried out by the inimitable Jonah Falco of FUCKED UP fame. Pinning Falco’s drumming to Corstorphine's vision has nailed a sound which is at once huge and perfectly audible, whilst remaining brutal and ugly in tone.
There are moments of genuine innovation on display as is evident on the track ‘Empty Mind’ which begins with discordant noise, before building from a mid-paced swing into frantic lunacy, and then introducing a harrowing and unexpected synthesiser.
The stark black and white artwork, carried out by Daniel David Freeman, provides a perfectly abstract and menacing back drop to this slab of primitive hardcore. ($arny)
Our take: La Vida Es Un Mus brings us the debut release from this London project masterminded by Lindsay Corstorphine, who handled everything here save the drums, where he gets an assist from Jonah Falco, who needs no introduction. I am a fan of Lindsay’s band Sauna Youth, and while Violin’s angry hardcore doesn’t have much in common with Sauna Youth’s eclectic sound on the surface, there are high levels of skill and artistic ambition apparent in both projects. Not that this is prog or anything—the intro riff to “Empty Mind” is about as straightforward as you can get—but by the end of that very song there’s a synth whirring out a sinister melodic line where you’d expect the Ginn-influenced atonal lead to go. Moments like that and the off-kilter harmonized leads on “Chaos at the Seance” are my favorite parts the record, though even when Violin is in kill mode they have an artsy undercurrent that reminds me of Hologram or one of the other noisy and brainy fast hardcore bands on La Vida Es Un Mus or Iron Lung Records. Those of us with a taste for that approach will like the way Violin puts new wrinkles in old sheets.