skinny wolves
Well-Known Member
Skinny Wolves Club
The Unit Ama (Uk / Gringo Recs)
Lords (Uk / Gringo Recs)
Lafaro
& more
w/ Skinny Wolves & Guest DJs
Thursday 26th October
The Hub, Dublin
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The Unit Ama
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Related bands: Crane, Kodiak, Month of Birthdays[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In the future all bands will sound like Newcastles' The Unit Ama as slowly more and more people realise they are the greatest. Free-jazz insprired artness under-pinned by incredible guitar riffs and loopy drums so intense you could cry blood. Original idea based structures completely wow the fuck out of anyone that sees it or hears it.
[/FONT]
It’s possible that The Unit Ama never encountered the rulebook for rock trio formation before heading to the studio to lay down this, their debut LP. It’s equally likely that they did come across these commandments, but wisely decided to ignore the bits that stipulate that a band with a basic guitar-drums-bass line-up must adhere to one of the two popular templates – bluesy bluster cluttered by plentiful virtuoso fretwank, or an ensemble effort making up for paucity of manpower with energetic, hook-laden precision.
Whatever the case, the Newcastle troupe uncover some truly stirring, explosive alternatives to not just the tried and tested three-piece sound but rock in general on these ten tracks. It’s something of a refreshing relief, if not a shock, to come across something this original, even alien at a time when even the most marginal sounds are roped in to soundtrack ad campaigns and far too many mediocre bands are glad to ape whatever’s hot at the moment with little regard for anything other than keeping the cash registers alight.
As with anything exploring the outer limits, it’s initially a bumpy ride. Most combos would present the simple melody of opener ‘Dead Birds’ in the sparsest, most unobtrusive of settings. The Unit Ama, however, choose to cook up a raucous, free-form rock ‘n’ roll equivalent of the cacophonous improvisation of the furthest-out skronk-jazz, whilst the feverish guitar-mangling and stuttering rhythms of the nervously twitching ‘Governed’ are more than a bit disturbing. Persevere with the platter, though, and what at first sounds like mere off-putting textbook definitions for uneasy listening soon start to make compelling sense.
The Unit Ama sound isn't entirely without precedents. Both the rumbling metronomic beat of ‘Plastique Bertrand’s fuzz bass-driven race down riff lane and guitarist-singer Steven’s zeal for skipping the pentatonic bollocks in favour of exploring his instrument’s untapped potential for startling shrieks and squeals resemble Sonic Youth, whereas the loose, sprawling crescendos of ‘The Ostrich’ bring to mind Lift To Experience – another trio who didn’t give two hoots about what had gone before. The instrumentals ‘How The Mind Works’ and ‘Glass Like Water’, meanwhile, borrow a bolt or two from the post-rock toolbox, but replace that genre’s complex structures with relentless repetition that provides a wealth of hypnotic thrills.
It’s not quite a masterpiece, though. Steven is more of a ranter than an actual singer, but his pipes don’t pack the necessary menace and authority to carry off the hectoring approach with the aplomb that, say, Mark E. Smith does, whilst on the tunes front, the chaotic ‘Horses (of Northumbria)’ veers perilously close to the wilful unpleasantness of hardcore noise-mongering. Next to the overall quality of this astonishingly accomplished debut, however, these reservations can be easily brushed aside with dismissive title of another selection – ‘Fuck The Critic’.
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LORDS
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Related bands: Reynolds, Wolves! (of Greece), Schema, Manrae, Great Bear, Last of the Real Hard Men, Economy of Motion, Twinkie, Development of Shape, Felix[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Nottingham/Derby based blues-esque twisty grooves not disimilair to Golden. Ingenious equipment played by members of Wolves of Greece, Twinkie and Great Bear. Good time vibes shine out of their beauty faces and cheer up and amaze all who watches them[/FONT]
A big mother-fucking beautiful bastard of a release. There I’ve said it. You have been warned. The kind of release that in truth I could happily listen to all day - and have (in fact).
Having already served their notice of intent on the recent must have ’Monstrous Proportions’ split 10” where they admirably held their ground amid a four label / four band face off with Todd, Part Chimp and Hey Colossus with the almighty ’I shook the Royal throne’ the Lords return to the fray with their debut full length ’This ain’t a hate thing, it’s a love thing’.
Made up of ex members of Wolves! (of Greece) whose debut one sided 10” platter still scares the breezes out of the hi-fi to this very day, the Lords, or so it appears have discovered their mojo bag, yet while most kiss, rub and care for it in the hope that they’ll find their muse and in turn all the success that ensues, these blighters you suspect have stomped all over theirs leaving it very much unloved. ’This ain’t a hate thing’ oozes with the kind of beaten and battered blues much in evidence throughout the bruised back catalogue of the likes of Shellac and John Spencer Blues Explosion perfectly exemplified on the curtain closing fraughtly noodling and spiteful ‘My sweetheart the horse‘. Yet with a small finite difference. Those two aforementioned ensembles appear to be of their day feeding off surrounding vibes of that precise time and place, the Lords are however a blues band in the very best tradition of the genre with the cuts slyly referencing elements of Zeppelin (especially on the dirty off your face ‘the Unfortunate Death of the Lords’ or the loosely sexualised ’Ethan’) and Sabbath while enveloping the resulting brew with the raw edge of very early career AC/DC (just check out the ragged discordant rumble of the ear lashing ’Liquer’) albeit considerably bent out of a shape and sounding like they’ve not only been dragged backwards and screaming through a hedgerow backwards but reared in a swampland replete with a subtle mid 70’s art jazz rock DNA and intricately woven in ostensibly fucked up time signatures.
From the freewheeling hip grinding no nonsense retro boogie of the tightly honed ’the Ballad of the Sightless and the Outs…..’ to the blissed out laid back groove of the mooching ‘Baijoul’ with its nods to Elmore, Muddy and Hendrix all being catered for in a finitely packed 3.53 slot ’This ain’t a hate thing…’ never disappoints instead preferring to happily snap at your heels and just when you think you’ve got the measure of the beast the imps go and throw in ‘Mingus (Part 1-3)’. The best thing here by far as it takes you unexpectedly into classic Beefheart ‘Trout Mask Replica’ era territories into a cauldron of awkwardly contorting stop start rhythms the type of which that sound as though they’re in a state of prolonged math rock seizure like convulsions. An absolute seismic gem of a release.
- MARK BARTON, LOSING TODAY
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
LAFARO
http://www.myspace.com/lafaro
The Unit Ama (Uk / Gringo Recs)
Lords (Uk / Gringo Recs)
Lafaro
& more
w/ Skinny Wolves & Guest DJs
Thursday 26th October
The Hub, Dublin
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
The Unit Ama
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Related bands: Crane, Kodiak, Month of Birthdays[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In the future all bands will sound like Newcastles' The Unit Ama as slowly more and more people realise they are the greatest. Free-jazz insprired artness under-pinned by incredible guitar riffs and loopy drums so intense you could cry blood. Original idea based structures completely wow the fuck out of anyone that sees it or hears it.
[/FONT]
It’s possible that The Unit Ama never encountered the rulebook for rock trio formation before heading to the studio to lay down this, their debut LP. It’s equally likely that they did come across these commandments, but wisely decided to ignore the bits that stipulate that a band with a basic guitar-drums-bass line-up must adhere to one of the two popular templates – bluesy bluster cluttered by plentiful virtuoso fretwank, or an ensemble effort making up for paucity of manpower with energetic, hook-laden precision.
Whatever the case, the Newcastle troupe uncover some truly stirring, explosive alternatives to not just the tried and tested three-piece sound but rock in general on these ten tracks. It’s something of a refreshing relief, if not a shock, to come across something this original, even alien at a time when even the most marginal sounds are roped in to soundtrack ad campaigns and far too many mediocre bands are glad to ape whatever’s hot at the moment with little regard for anything other than keeping the cash registers alight.
As with anything exploring the outer limits, it’s initially a bumpy ride. Most combos would present the simple melody of opener ‘Dead Birds’ in the sparsest, most unobtrusive of settings. The Unit Ama, however, choose to cook up a raucous, free-form rock ‘n’ roll equivalent of the cacophonous improvisation of the furthest-out skronk-jazz, whilst the feverish guitar-mangling and stuttering rhythms of the nervously twitching ‘Governed’ are more than a bit disturbing. Persevere with the platter, though, and what at first sounds like mere off-putting textbook definitions for uneasy listening soon start to make compelling sense.
The Unit Ama sound isn't entirely without precedents. Both the rumbling metronomic beat of ‘Plastique Bertrand’s fuzz bass-driven race down riff lane and guitarist-singer Steven’s zeal for skipping the pentatonic bollocks in favour of exploring his instrument’s untapped potential for startling shrieks and squeals resemble Sonic Youth, whereas the loose, sprawling crescendos of ‘The Ostrich’ bring to mind Lift To Experience – another trio who didn’t give two hoots about what had gone before. The instrumentals ‘How The Mind Works’ and ‘Glass Like Water’, meanwhile, borrow a bolt or two from the post-rock toolbox, but replace that genre’s complex structures with relentless repetition that provides a wealth of hypnotic thrills.
It’s not quite a masterpiece, though. Steven is more of a ranter than an actual singer, but his pipes don’t pack the necessary menace and authority to carry off the hectoring approach with the aplomb that, say, Mark E. Smith does, whilst on the tunes front, the chaotic ‘Horses (of Northumbria)’ veers perilously close to the wilful unpleasantness of hardcore noise-mongering. Next to the overall quality of this astonishingly accomplished debut, however, these reservations can be easily brushed aside with dismissive title of another selection – ‘Fuck The Critic’.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
LORDS
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Related bands: Reynolds, Wolves! (of Greece), Schema, Manrae, Great Bear, Last of the Real Hard Men, Economy of Motion, Twinkie, Development of Shape, Felix[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Nottingham/Derby based blues-esque twisty grooves not disimilair to Golden. Ingenious equipment played by members of Wolves of Greece, Twinkie and Great Bear. Good time vibes shine out of their beauty faces and cheer up and amaze all who watches them[/FONT]
A big mother-fucking beautiful bastard of a release. There I’ve said it. You have been warned. The kind of release that in truth I could happily listen to all day - and have (in fact).
Having already served their notice of intent on the recent must have ’Monstrous Proportions’ split 10” where they admirably held their ground amid a four label / four band face off with Todd, Part Chimp and Hey Colossus with the almighty ’I shook the Royal throne’ the Lords return to the fray with their debut full length ’This ain’t a hate thing, it’s a love thing’.
Made up of ex members of Wolves! (of Greece) whose debut one sided 10” platter still scares the breezes out of the hi-fi to this very day, the Lords, or so it appears have discovered their mojo bag, yet while most kiss, rub and care for it in the hope that they’ll find their muse and in turn all the success that ensues, these blighters you suspect have stomped all over theirs leaving it very much unloved. ’This ain’t a hate thing’ oozes with the kind of beaten and battered blues much in evidence throughout the bruised back catalogue of the likes of Shellac and John Spencer Blues Explosion perfectly exemplified on the curtain closing fraughtly noodling and spiteful ‘My sweetheart the horse‘. Yet with a small finite difference. Those two aforementioned ensembles appear to be of their day feeding off surrounding vibes of that precise time and place, the Lords are however a blues band in the very best tradition of the genre with the cuts slyly referencing elements of Zeppelin (especially on the dirty off your face ‘the Unfortunate Death of the Lords’ or the loosely sexualised ’Ethan’) and Sabbath while enveloping the resulting brew with the raw edge of very early career AC/DC (just check out the ragged discordant rumble of the ear lashing ’Liquer’) albeit considerably bent out of a shape and sounding like they’ve not only been dragged backwards and screaming through a hedgerow backwards but reared in a swampland replete with a subtle mid 70’s art jazz rock DNA and intricately woven in ostensibly fucked up time signatures.
From the freewheeling hip grinding no nonsense retro boogie of the tightly honed ’the Ballad of the Sightless and the Outs…..’ to the blissed out laid back groove of the mooching ‘Baijoul’ with its nods to Elmore, Muddy and Hendrix all being catered for in a finitely packed 3.53 slot ’This ain’t a hate thing…’ never disappoints instead preferring to happily snap at your heels and just when you think you’ve got the measure of the beast the imps go and throw in ‘Mingus (Part 1-3)’. The best thing here by far as it takes you unexpectedly into classic Beefheart ‘Trout Mask Replica’ era territories into a cauldron of awkwardly contorting stop start rhythms the type of which that sound as though they’re in a state of prolonged math rock seizure like convulsions. An absolute seismic gem of a release.
- MARK BARTON, LOSING TODAY
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
LAFARO
http://www.myspace.com/lafaro
