BLEEDERS DIGEST: HARDCORE 7″ REVIEWS OF MINUS, S.O.S., AND TRASH TALK
[The seven-inch record is a cornerstone for hardcore music. Unlike metal that has diminished vinyl while perversely fetishizing it, hardcore continues to depend on the format as an essential platform for disseminating music. Characteristically shorter song lengths make it possible for a band in this scene to make a statement over the course of multiple tracks and provide it in a way that is affordable. The purpose of this column is to identify and offer short critiques of some new and recent releases in the 7″ format.]
If you attended this year’s CMJ and didn’t catch at least one of Trash Talk‘s five sets, it’s your own damn fault. The brisk material on Awake (True Panther Sounds) surpasses last year’s Eyes & Nines as well as earlier singles. The title track is an absolute banger, like Circle Jerks on PCP–furious, yet still so catchy. Their photo adorning the Arts section of the New York Times, Trash Talk are perhaps the right band at the right time, and dizzying cuts like “Blind Evolution” prove they deserve what acclaim they seem so poised to get.
Santa Barbara, CA’s Minus may have only just released their debut 7″ Hard Feelings (Triple-B), but there’s nothing in the content that suggests that. What we get are five downtuned tracks of bummed out metallic hardcore. The vocals are intelligible, revealing lyrics stuffed with doubt, depression, and self-hate. “Weight” just devastates with a severe negative outlook and heavy riffage. Minus aren’t about overcoming the odds; they way they see it, we’ve already lost.
Matt Henderson must have been storing these riffs for a decade. How else could the former Madball guitarist sonically recreate that group’s 90s salad days with his latest project? A veritable hardcore supergroup, S.O.S. windmills all imitators on I Owe You Nothing (Reaper). Throughout, Terror frontman Scott Vogel lives out his Hardcore Fantasy League dreams as Freddy Cricien’s surrogate, no more apparent than on the title track, a pitch-perfect sequel to “Look My Way.” The sound of reinvigoration on wax…
-GS
