Right, time for a general round up post of stuff that’s filtered into the old inbox over the last month or so. Regular posts/updates will be going ahead as normal in a few days due to upcoming holiday time.

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Band – Komondor
Album – A Giant Is Coming & The Giant Is Going To Kill You
Label – none, unsigned
Release date – August 2010
Sounds like – doom metal ultimate beatdown

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Komondor are three dudes from NY who have all tuned their instruments to the lowest and most dense setting possible. It’s not totally noise rock, as there is actually moments of melody and structure present; it’s more a quite harrowing bombardment of impenetrable riffs and down-tuned grind. Komondor actually remind me of Chickenhawk a lot. There’s that same uneasiness when listening to them. Everything sounds like it’s been drenched in some toxic sludge. The vocals are almost incomprehensible and are akin to that of the medicine drinking man who stands outside the bottle bank, shouting. It’s as if the medicine swilling freak has wandered into the recording session, grabbed a microphone and added an unfathomable and lengthy diatribe of nonsense and slurred utterances, before sloping off. The band is then left to cut up what’s been said and scatter it about their raucous chaos with glee.
There’s also similarities with the now defunct Cherubs; a noise rock band from Texas who I really struggle to listen to due to the utterly terrifying and uneasy feeling of their music. Komondor have moments like this. On ‘Intermissent’ (an obvious stop-gap filler track); it sounds like someone being tortured using a drill, thumb screws and a broken piano. In some sick way; I like it though. I swear the vocalist is screaming “I CAN’T STOP BLEEDING!” though, which is somewhat distressing.
The metallic bark of ‘Brown Pool’ is a taunt piece of musical bile; whilst ‘Decompensating’ rings with an almost Harvey Milk-air of disgust and rejection; switching nicely between galloping stoner-metal and the grinding crunch of disappointment and hate. ‘Migration of Eels’ goes punk rock at the end; scratching and writhing to finish in a flurry of mangled blast beats and strained guitar growls.

Komondor create a fairly unpleasant, yet brilliantly controlled and focused racket that feels a bit like Cult of Luna covering Harvey Milk songs. Despicable sludge-metal overload that I strongly recommend.

Links

Komondor Myspace
Komondor Bandcamp

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Artist – Mike Scott
EP – And A Master Of None
Label – Disconnect Disconnect Records
Release date – 30th August
Sounds Like – acoustic punk rock from the heart

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Mike Scott is a veteran. He’s fought long and hard (that’s what SHE said) in the punk rock underground as the co-frontman and bassist for Brighton’s Phinius Gage, a skate punk band that had moderate success in the realms of Deck Cheese Records. Since Phinius Gage’s hiatus 2 years ago, Scott is now a solo artist, following in the footsteps of Frank Turner and co; peddling down the path of acoustic punk rock, yet still retaining the melody that existed in his previous band’s output.
‘….And A Master Of None’ is Scott’s third release (preceding ‘At The Slaughter House’ and his split with Kevin Seconds) containing five tracks, two of which are covers. It should be noted that Scott has an interesting voice and frankly, thank god. He has a listless almost drawling twang to his voice, content to slur quite sullenly through his songs in an incredibly casual attitude. ‘Follow The Leader’ is a prime example of this sullen, almost condescending tone. The lyrics offer a love/hate aspect as Scott expresses in his own words; “admiration and disdain” for the outside world. The light-female backing vocals contain a slight Irish twang and work nicely in conjunction with Scott’s effortless drawl of non-conformity. ‘Jack of All Trades’ has a lighter, folk-twang to it, with the vocals seemingly less condescending and more sorrowful, combined with some haunted background wails. It’s a simple, quite hollow track more in the vein of William Elliott Whitmore in style and approach. His cover of Neil Diamond’s ‘Solitary Man’ is decent and slightly distressing – gone is the weird, misplaced jaunt of the original. Scott’s approach is more melodramatic and laced with regret, his voice wavering and cracking near the end.
The break up/Prayer To God-style song appears in the form of ‘It’s My Job To Disappoint’ – which is a mock apology message stating “sorry, I won’t be playing that song tonight, I’m playing something you’ve never heard” – whether this is a spiteful shout-out to an ex-lover or someone that has betrayed Scott remains to be seen, but the venom is in the right place.
The final track is a cover of a Kevin Seconds song; ‘Extra Something’ as is the most upbeat and swaggering track on this EP. Whilst Scott’s voice suits the melancholy utterances of the down-trodden man, he really finds his voice on this cover when he swings into it. There’s gusto and bravado in his inflection, despite the song being about a failed relationship it touches a nerve of being both downhearted but with that “fuck it, move on” attitude that only a deadpan snarker of a voice like Scott’s can pull off.

For those wondering what happened to that bloke from that band named after some dude who got a large iron rod through the head and survived or if you just fancy hearing some decent, emotive acoustic punk rock, then Mike Scott is worth your time. The EP is available on bandcamp for whatever price you want.

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Links

Mike Scott
Mike Scott Myspace
Disconnect Disconnect Band Camp

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By Ross Macdonald

Lizard Hips

Junior Vice President of Keep It Fast. In other news: I work in social media, talk about dinosaurs, run a book club and have amazing facial hair. I am also a male man who is still not dead.

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