Soggy Creep: "Worry Lines'

The "Worry Lines" ep came out last month on angst of this rowdy three piece from Washington recalls "Bleach" era as much as it does "In the Flat Field", in fact you can even hear the early Get Up Kids in the way the singer pours himself into reaching for the notes. They set off on the darker footing of "Nocturnal Life". The vocal approach places heavy emphasis on the punk in post-punk, hell there is barely anything post- about his snarl. The darker elements all call from how the chords are allowed to ring out and the restraint the drummer uses. It could easily devolve into "one, two, three...go"punk if not for the deliberate pacing.

 The bass leading into "Behold, Bile" is somewhat death-rock, but not no where as lavish in it's Halloween worship as other Christan Death devotees. This is where I begin to hear the grunge influence, which must literally come with the territory  considering the history of their homestead. The Get-Up Kids I was hearing comes in on the slower stomp of "Ghost House", but it also is haunted by Cobain's ghost. The reckless way the let the chord linger and the minor walk down after the chorus carry a little grunge to it. The bass line is the spookiest element. The guitar "solo" is a dissonant excursion into melodically manipulated feedback, that drives back to the chorus in a very "Bleach" fashion.

The bass player once again takes control on "Further Down", which allows the guitars to get rather rock n roll. The death-rock elements here are vague shades of other organic rock bands like the Cult and the Estranged, who have a dark side but I would be reluctant to call goth. This is further dispelled once the flannel is out with it's foot on the monitor despite the spookier under belly some of the chord progression might hint at.I can also hear some horror punk influence, a little Lords of the New Church, but more Dead Boys.

I'll round this down to a 9, which means that while I really enjoyed this ep and want to hear what these guys do on a full length, the last song got too rock n roll for me towards the solo filled build at the end. We can debate until the bats fly home what makes them punk, goth or whatever, but not unlike the Estranged these guys have really shaken it all together and spit it out with enough attitude that you really don't care once it sucks you in.