Ok I know I'm late with this one but since I have written this post about Cold Feet a few weeks ago and discovered Thematix (two members in common) I can't stop listening to its great post punk demo so I've decided to write a little something about the Baltimore trio (and anyway I do what I want!).
So the band only release is this early 2019 self-released 4-track tape and yeah it's short, it's DAMN too short!
These guys like Crisis and Joy Division for sure (who doesn't ?) but to me this buzzsaw guitar and always-on-the-verge-to-burst punk attitude put them in the same bag as "new" post punk bands like Negative Space or Natural Causes(or even Eyesores in a more noisy way) and I absolutly LOVE those bands so you can easily guess what I think of Thematix...
Unfortunatly I could not find much more information about the band, I don't even know if they're still playing... But if you do... please guys... give me more!! N,J'Oi!
Cold Feet is a band from Baltimore, Maryland, featuring members of Quitter and Thematix(check them out!) and has been around since 2015/2016...
Oh yes and they play some kind of not-to-harsh punk hardcore!
I'm going to pass quickly on their 2016 demo and 2017 Tour tape because the recording is really bad and, in my opinion, it doesn't give a right of what the band sounds like.
Unfortunatly, and once again, it's still a bit too low-fi... and not in a good fun way, more in a "shit I don't feel the energy enough, it should have sounded better" kinda way...
Except for The Score, the first song, which delivers some good punk hardcore stuff the other ones are a bit lost in a not-so-great low-fi garage vibe...
It's not bad no, it's quite fast, the guitar does a good job ... but it's missing something to be really "In your face!" and I feel that we don't get the full potential of what these 4 guys can deliver...
And that's exactly what we will get with their next release!
Released on the 3rd of April on Feel It Records, Punk Entity 12" finally delivers what I was expecting, 8 tracks of great, fast and furious, ripping punk hardcore.
With no songs over the 2 minutes mark, these guys didn't come to fuck around... their straight to the point, raging hardcore à la Career Suicide or Agent Attitudewill knock you out before bashing your head against the curb at 200 BPM... And yes this time, the recording is great! A higly recommended release!
Gloop is a Noise-rock/Post-hardcore band from Baltymore, Maryland.
Not that heavy (in a good way), with some melodic and well built
parts and breaks, there is definitly more in Gloop than in your average noise-rock band.
Junk Drawer released in 2017, despite a raw recording, alreay got all the diversity and angry high pitched vocals that will be Gloop identity. From somewhere no too far from screamo in Sad Man Meal, they bring us back around DC with I Heard Her Talking and An Offering.
Overall a very promising first release despite Blueberries for Supper which is way too poppy for me (guys... this guitar solo, really?).
End of 2017, the band records The Tourist, which will be released in June 2018 on Grimoire Records. 8 songs with a great sound, Gloop's first album is a success. The vocals are still high pitched but more balanced, the songs are still angry but with an extra kind of crazy with a bit of an out-of-control vibe. Now far beyond the borders of the noise-rock genre, Gloop keeps making you discover the depth of each song, layers after layers, every time you listen to the album.
Same recipe as with The Tourist, Gloop's second full length got great songs with a great sound. The singer now compeltely masters his voice and is able to go up and down, deep and high, crazy and angry... Here is what is said about it on their bandcamp page,
and I could not say better:
"Whether sung, screamed, or
falsetto, his vocals are exclusively high-pitched, sounding like they
are at the top of his range, sounding like a man physically straining.
Within those high pitches comes a range of strange and ambiguous
emotional tenors. Gianninoto always sounds manic, but manic is a level
of energy, not an emotion. Is he feeling pained? Enraged? Sad?
Terrified? Excited? Playful? Delighted? It sounds like bits of all of
those by turns, sometimes with jarringly rapid transitions between them.
If you heard someone vocalizing like this on the bus, you probably
wouldn’t sit by them, yet if you have a heart, you’d feel for them and
hope someone is looking out for them."
Smiling Lines is a good album, with a deep and complex expression of mixed feelings which requires multiple listenings to be able to appreciate them all.
With a release a year, the trio doesn't look tired and is probably working on 2020 release... Which will probably be great but in which I would suggest to inject a little dose of surprise...
You can listen to Gloop and a lot of punk songs on Rien à Faire #5.
