Staticlone : "Better Living Through Static Vision"

The instrumental title track that opens this album up with a monolithic sludge drone is deceptive as this album is a ripping crust punk barrage. The vocals are a gruff Lemmy-like rasp, that finds the rest of the band racing behind the vocal, but with a sense of songwriting smarts, as there are guitar melody lines that provide a hook, over the rumble of the bass. In many ways, this is like the crust version of Motorhead, due to not only Geroge's vocal style but the rumble of the fuzzed-out bass-blowing speaker as it provides the backbone. 

This album works off a racing momentum that some songs provide more dynamics than others. Where "This Light Burns Like Poison" is hooky and more memorable, they keep things in your face for the racing rampage of  "Sullen Me".  "Moths" finds him coming closer to singing. The pound is more deliberate here. "Alone in Philadelphia " has a current of rock n roll running through the dense churn of guitars, and the vocals come closest to actual singing here. Lemmy would be proud of the bass tone propelling the speed fest that is "Patching Holes in a Dead Star". The energy is more punk here. 

"Thin Places" might be the most metal moment of the album as it gallops in a more Judas Priest-like manner. They charge with renewed malice into "Lens Flare". "Red Eye' has a darker metal vibe that opens it up but they are back on their feet and at the races again with the kind of punk pacing that dominates this album, while still creating a more layered sonic approach. I'll give this album a 9.5, it's what I want from punk, and wish there was more music like this coming out these days though I will take what I can get. Drops March 7th on Relapse. 

pst103