I love me some shit music, everyone has their guilty pleasures. I grew up on 93X, Minneapolis' "metal" station. I have intentionally gone to a Staind concert. I have sung along to Nickleback. I have banged my head to Kid Rock. I am not too proud to admit these things. What can I say, it is hard being a white suburban teenager.
Conversely, there is a lot of really good music that just does not appeal to me. For instance, it is often beyond me to enjoy Jazz and Classical. Almost the entire genres of Rap and Reggae displease me greatly. Not that I can not appreciate them intellectually, they just do not grab my ears.
Today, as promised, I will review something that I do not enjoy. Personal taste aside, I find it to be an interesting example of Hardcore / Noise. At times, I can almost get into it but...the vocals, man.
The fucking vocals.
An Albatross - We Are the Lazer Viking
http://www.discogs.com/An-Albatross-We-Are-The-Lazer-Viking/release/1526303
This is not the "cool" pressing of this album. The original press, limited to 150, had etching on the B side. Regardless, this release is still pretty snazzy. Side A contains the entire eight minutes of this album. That's right, all eight minutes.
A slew of not quite neon shades fill the front jacket defined by, as far as I can tell, an entirely abstract design. The color scheme grabs the eye in that so bad it is good way.
The back of the jacket features the remainder of the image from the front. The track listing is skewed and disheveled. The stylistic choices for the album art reflect the musical choices for the album very well.
The album is pressed on clear vinyl with a custom label on the A side. Side B is blank with a plain black label. An insert displays the lyrics and the credits.
This review should be about as short as the album. Once again, it is only eight minutes long. I see no condition issues on the vinyl itself. Granted, it can be hard to tell on clear vinyl. The sound quality is pretty good, not super clean but not bad. I am not sure if this was an intentional style choice, a problem with my copy, or just sub par mastering as I have not had any other copy to compare it to.
Immediately the noise begins. An Albatross does some really interesting melodies on this album. Electronic synthesizers chirp out discordant series of notes in a way that sets your ear on edge, but in a good way.
But the vocals man, the fucking vocals. The main reason I have a hard time listening to Hardcore is the vocals. Just stop fucking screaming for one God damned second. Seriously, stop. They make me want to choke the fucking life out of you. It just ruins it for me. Like, what the fuck are you screaming like that for? Do you want me to end you? Do you want to die?
DO YOU WANT TO FUCKING DIE?!?
Maybe that is the point I guess? Hardcore bands desire to inspire rage in their fans? Hopefully, this tactic proves successful and one of these guys drives a fan to actually murder them, if only to prevent me from ever having to hear someone scream like that again. Don't get me wrong, I love me some metal growl. But there is something different with Hardcore; it is like they are screaming with their epiglottis alone. I want to punch them in their faces.
Thankfully, this album only forces you to endure it for about eight minutes. The instrumentation is really fucking killer though. Interesting time signatures, interesting riffing, and a whole lot of punishing noise. It's worth a listen, especially if you can handle the vocals.
All in all, I am not disappointed in this purchase. On the second listen through I was able to screen out the FUCKING AWFUL VOCALS and actually enjoy it. There is a current eBay auction, Buy It Now for $20. For eight minutes of music, that seems pretty steep. If you are a fan, fucking go for it. For everyone else, listen first.
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