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What’s up Sorry Staters?
We’re mid-way through October already? Fockin’ hell, mate. I’ve been trying to get into the spirit, seeing as this is my favorite time of year. I’ve gone and seen a few special showings of movies in theaters. Saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre the other night. That kicked ass. The close-ups of Sally’s eyes during the dining room scene? Fuck man, it felt so intense seeing that scene on the big screen. Also went and saw Pet Sematary with Daniel and a few of the Plastique Pigs dudes the other night. Honestly, not my favorite Stephen King movie. Man, I forgot how corny some of the actors’ performances are in that movie. Hamming it up, big time. The theater was literally empty except for us 4 people that went, so our watch-along commentary really heightened the experience haha.
We’re slowly but surely getting the store looking extra spooky for all you fiends and ghouls. If we can’t persuade you to come by with simply having cool records and haunting atmosphere, perhaps some free treats this weekend will grab your attention? We know all y’all got a sweet tooth (fang?). You’ll just have to swing by and see.
Also, real quick: I wanted to point out that I failed to even mention the new Bloody Flag tape on Bunker Punks last week. Way stoked on it. Now Sorry State is already sold out! Big thanks to everyone who ordered a copy.
Okay, now let’s talk records. I feel like I gotta write about this Early Grave record. Feels like it would be a shame not to do so. If you don’t know, the band is a 3-piece hardcore band from Philly. I remember their debut cassette release Sewer Baby Eaten By Worms(love that title haha) getting a lot of praise last year. So, I think the release of this LP Violent Winter on General Speech has been highly anticipated. Sorry State has already sold a whole bunch of copies. If you’re already hip to this band and what they’re about, then I guess you don’t really need me to tell you anything. But I find this record incredibly intriguing, so I just wanna spitball about it for a minute:
Surely everybody recognizes this, but I gotta say… this record is pretty strange, dude! Perhaps that’s a funny way to start this write-up. But am I the only one who feels that way? Musically, the band’s sound is a bit whacky n’ wild. I’ve heard people refer to Early Grave as having elements of crust or black metal… Are you crazy? Are we even listening to the same record? Maybe people are conflating Early Grave with that new Bequestrecord, which also just came out on General Speech. I mean gee whiz, a mofo sees a record cover with a grim reaper, hears some deep vocals and divebombs, and I guess it’s metal? Maybe that’s what the band is going for… Maaaaybe. But I just don’t hear that at all. I really think Early Grave is quite unique sounding. Like there’s a loooot going on with the music. In some ways, I think to the point where the average listener might find Violent Winter a difficult record to digest. And I mean that even speaking about someone who’s into hardcore. I dunno man, does that make sense? Like, what Early Grave is doing musically is clearly a far cry from Victim In Pain. I mean, first of all, this record’s got 15 tracks. Which, honestly, I respect. 24 minutes of fast hardcore!! Not many hardcore punk bands exist for only a year, then make the jump to a full-length, and also have the guts to release that long of a record. We’re not quite into Die Kreuzen territory just yet. That self-titled Die Kreuzen LP has 21 songs. Damn, I forget that sometimes. But even within these 15 songs, Early Grave just cram in so many musical ideas.
To some degree, this LP feels like a punk record that’s tailor-made for me. Maybe I do enjoy a record that’s a bit overwhelming from time to time. Like you really have to dig into what the band is doing musically. For the general listener, it might be a bit nerdy to dig into all the different parts and song construction. It might be there’s a barrier there for certain people. The vibe of a band like Early Grave doesn’t strike me as “let’s kick back and jam some rockin’ tunes man” type music. It feels genuinely ugly. It feels like this record is made for freaks.
I think back to other bands that John played guitar in, even as far back as like Nasa Space Universe, and more recently a band like Krigshoder. Now, hearing him bring his style of punk songwriting to this new band, I feel like maybe there’s a melting pot of influences in Early Grave that happens to align with my taste. I dunno man, I hate to say it, but in general—not a lot of music is hitting for me lately. It’s not that I’m disinterested in hardcore, but I do feel like I’m often searching for something that’s not fucking Oi! or “metal-punk” or just hardcore that feels lazily put together or doesn’t feel raging. Hate to sound like I’m talking shit. But whatever. To my ears, the songwriting in Early Grave sounds informed by dark, outsider hardcore. Not unlike the way I felt when I heard a band like Cicada. Especially in the deep, United Mutation-esque evil-sounding vocals. And yeah, I already mentioned Die Kreuzen, and the label’s description even mentions Early Grave taking influence from Mecht Mensch. Maybe this is a weird reference, but listening to Early Grave makes me think a lot about Everything Ends In Rot, that 7” by The Scam. Twinges of heaviness, but in a gutter-bred, disgusting, non-metallic feeling way.
There are so many neck-breaking changes. The experience of listening to the record kinda elicits feelings of anxiety. It feels chaotic, and maybe that’s how the listener is meant to feel. But upon further inspection, these songs are like suuuuper intelligently constructed. Not just that; it comes across as borderline militant. When you really dissect the songs, you can tell a lot of effort went into the arranging of this record. Like with every repetition cycle of a guitar riff, there’s a conscious effort to deviate and do something clever or unexpected, or like shift rhythmically, or have a tight stop with a quick drum fill. With drumming in particular, it feels like every moment is approached with this frenetic energy, and the drummer’s like, “what can I do to make this part as intense and exciting as possible?” On the surface, I might have thought the band was just throwing ideas at the wall. Now I realize these complicated rhythmic ideas and song construction don’t come from three people just fucking around making noise. These songs feel like they’re difficult to play, and the three individuals making this music are fucking locked in.
With this incredibly wrought song construction, and because there is so much craziness flying at your ears like a sonic barrage… it can be a lot to take in. It’s difficult to catch your breath. And especially with the record being as long as it is, maybe it can feel a bit exhausting. That said, I’ve already listened to this record all the way through several times. And at first, maybe I wasn’t finding a lot of hooks to grab onto. But now after repeated listens, I find a sense of quirkiness, bouncy grooviness and fun experimentation in the band’s sound. Kind of in a similar way that Blazing Eye sounded a bit goofy to me at times. Not every single moment has to be pure “evil”… Buuut it definitely is. Ha. For example, in a song like “Baby Blood,” I love how the tuneful riff at the end all of a sudden is accompanied by these unexpected “whoa oh” backup vocals over top of it. Then “Corpse Oil” has the big gang vocal chants. It’s so rad. Don’t be scared to use big sing-along parts in your hardcore. I think it rules. Then the last track “Fear Liath” has this sinister, but admittedly Middle Earth/Renaissance Faire-ass intro. It’s pretty cool though. I guess what I’m getting at is that the record feels ambitious and unafraid to be a little adventurous, or even a little silly at times.
Anyway, I hope that silly assessment was somewhat enjoyable. I think this Early Grave LP feels like a special record. Check it out, if you’re so inclined.
That’s all I’ve got. As always, thanks for reading.
‘Til next week,
-Jeff