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Full length cassette from the one-man army Chad L'Eplattenier, The Floor Above is the product of a singular, undiluted vision. Hardcore as a starting point and rocketing off into the atmosphere, a wonderful and frightening demolition of reality. For fans of the Mecht Mensch/Tar Babies split, Void, and the Landspeed Record-era Huskers.
Our take: Not Normal Records continues its long-running association with this obscure Nashville hardcore band on this latest cassette, containing 21 of the loosest, rawest slices of hardcore you’re likely to hear. The reference points are obvious—Void, Negazione, Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers, newer bands like Mozart or Neon… that kind of thing—but if you like this style of music you don’t care about the reference points so much as the unhinged freedom that these bands evoke in the listener, and the Floor Above do it better than just about anyone. It seems like they spontaneously create riffs then forget them as they're recording these tracks. Guitars go way out of tune. There are plenty of short outbursts of pure hardcore thrash, but there’s a surprising amount of melody here too. “Roadside Abyss” is a highlight, sounding like it was spliced in from a drunken Plastic Surgery Disasters-era Dead Kennedys bootleg. “Diminished Players” has a comically dumb riff, but the way that riff phases in and out of existence due the looseness of the playing elevates it to the level of genius. Can you even call this “loose” anymore? It’s something else to me, the undiluted sound of “I don’t give a fuck.” My only gripe is with the vocals, which sit way back in the mix and serve as window dressing rather than an essential part of the sound. This is niche stuff, but it’s a niche I can’t get enough of when it’s done just right.