Street Sects : "Rat Jacket"

The first thing that grabs me with this is how far the vocals have come. This puts it more in the realm of many of the industrial influenced bands from the 90's who were not industrial, but dark and gothy with drum loops fortifying the drums...think bands like Stabbing Westward and God Lives Underwater. The vocals even go in a almost Jane's Addiction direction some places when a note is sustained. The influences are all over the place though as some of the grooves even remind me Fugazi. The vocals to go into harsher yells and growls when the dynamics call for it. While this is not as organic as many of the band's whose names have surfaced this far in the review, they are invoking more of an organic feel than what was actually going on in the studio. There is a more experimental intro to "Total Immunity". The vocals pretty much hold it together as the arrangement oddly shifts in a very chaotic fashion. I think samples are used very well in this album, and add to the atmosphere, though I obviously have a soft spot when reminded of music from this era.

There is almost a Marilyn Manson like feel to the aggression and attitude of " Early Release". The vocals are passionate , but not goth. The pounding this song locks into is both original and heavy, though in that sweet spot I love where something is heavy sonically and emotionally , but not metal. Two minutes into this song it has already taken through the fun-house once in it's herky jerky arrangement. I can hear how Skinny Puppy also has an influence in how the song just shifts into other parts. It may or may not be real drums on this song, though the fact I can't tell means even if they are programmed they have done a good enough job of fooling me that it is a mute point. There is a moment of ambiance going into "At Least In Prison I Had You"  before going into a militant post-punk beat that contrasts the croon of the vocals. The guitar is adding odd angular melodies on the edges of the song as it continues to stomp along in a jarring fashion.

Color me impressed as hell by the growth this project is showing on the ep. I'll round it up to a 10 now, I think the elements that hit me in weird ways in certain places is just more of a matter of me getting used to what is going on here. I know I can leave this album on and let it play repeatedly and wish that there was more here than just these four songs, but I think it offers promise in terms of what we can expect from these guys. This comes out October 6th on the Flenser.