Beatroute Magazine BC Print Edition - July 2017

H09909 - United States of Horror
In Hearts Wake - Ark
Melvins - A Walk With Love and Death
Jessica Moss - Pools of Light
Ron Samworth - Dogs Do Dream
hook is a high point of country melody
on the album. There’s a lengthy swell
over a well-placed “Duck” Dunn bass riff
from Tom Murray that begs for just a bit
more instrumental harmony, though it
would sound less like a live group with
that kitchen sink thrown in. Anderson
wisely resists the urge to inflect a vocal
drawl suggesting he’s from anywhere
but where he is, and the EP’s high water
mark for writing, “Sinew & Bone,” lays
back into Nebraska territory with only
Anderson’s acoustic and a hummed
melody line in a sympathetic harmony
with Dungarees mate James Murdoch.
The Guaranteed’s honesty is revealed
more through ambiguity than just a
black-and-white reading of heartache,
going for gravitas over grandeur. Its
spare production is the work of a confident
group of players who know exactly
what needs to be played, and that filling
every empty space often removes emphasis
from what needs to be heard.
•Mike Dunn
Ho99o9
United States of Horror
Caroline Records
Punk and hip-hop have a lot of similarities
in the ethos of their respective
subcultures. Anti-authority, and a DIY
attitude are central values to each, and
they’re both channeled by New Jersey
duo Ho99o9 (pronounced “Horror”) in
their mish-mash of the two genres.
On United States of Horror, their debut
album, members Eaddy and theOGM
package their influences together with
pure adrenaline. Their live show is infamous,
and the crackle and buzz of their
lo-fi recording process make it evident
they’re trying to bring some of that
energy into the studio. United States
of Horror sounds better played out of
blown out speakers in your basement
than it does out of audiophile headphones
and that’s not a bad thing.
For Ho99o9, the scale between their
hardcore and hip-hop influences isn’t
always entirely balanced. Siren backed
banger “Splash” tips very hard to the
hip-hop side, while “City Rejects”
smashes it back like something off a
Black Flag record. Both are highlights,
but this rapid flip-flop and the occasional
jeering high-fidelity intro or interlude
can take a listener out of Ho99o9’s carefully
cultivated carnival of chaos. The
over-the-top lyrical content can also
make a listener pause their head-banging
for a chuckle.
Despite its flaws, United States of
Ho99o9 mostly feels as raw as a fresh
wound in a garage show moshpit and
2017 needs more of that.
•Cole Parker
In Hearts Wake
Ark
Rise Records
Ark is the fourth studio release from
Aussie metalcore band, In Hearts Wake.
While this album is still a decent depiction
of what the band stands for —
Mother Earth and self-love — it isn’t a
great follow up to their previous release,
Skydancer.
It does however, follow a specific formula
coined by the Aussies, opening
and closing with a recording and with
one slower song in the middle. This album
is lacking musically, there aren’t
many riffs or beats that stick with the
listener, however, the lyrics compensate
by pushing along a message to believe
in yourself and the Earth you live on.
These boys usually have a pretty decent
balance of clean vocals, sung by Kyle
Erich, to screaming by Jake Taylor, but
Erich’s vocals aren’t showcased as well
as on their previous releases and Taylor’s
screams are lacking the raw power that
we know he has. This album is worth a
listen to at least once though, you may
find something you might enjoy.
•Bailey Barnson
Melvins
A Walk With Love and Death
Ipecac Recordings
This is a double album. Or it isn’t. But it
might be. Or it’s a Melvins album, their
twenty-fifth, that is packaged with their
twenth-sixth recording, the soundtrack
for the film A Walk With Love & Death.
They are not a band that make it easy
for you.
Their music, however, goes down
smooth: although they, literally, have
no peers in the avant-sludge-americana-punk
genre there is something
comfortingly American in their reverb-drenched
solos and guitar tones
so clear that they could be pianos. The
riffs are huge, particularly on early track
Euthanasia, and there’s darkness there,
but it’s accessible. AM rock-radio accessible
at times- until the second half of
the album swings into view and it’s all
howling electronics and kitschy samples,
all of which is unbearably annoying
and nowhere near what noise music can
be. So, not so much a double album as a
very decent Melvins release that comes
with a coffee coaster that looks an awful
lot like a CD.
•Gareth Watkins
Jessica Moss
Pools of Light
Constellation Records
Jessica Moss is the violinist and composer
that has been a member of the
Montreal post-rock behemoth Thee
Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra since their
second release, Born into Trouble as the
Sparks Fly Upwards, in 2001. Since the
band’s hiatus, she’s been working diligently
touring and writing her own solo
material. First, with Under Plastic Island,
an independant release in 2015 and now
with her label debut, Pools of Light.
For fans of Silver Mt. Zion, the violin-centred
Pools of Light will be a treat.
Moss’ knack for swelling orchestral layers
of sound persists in her solo work
but it is more strongly influenced by
drone and folk. Rather than aiming to
build emotion on top of itself, Pools of
Light instead focuses on crafting atmosphere.
It has the capability to teleport you into
its lush world. You can get lost in it, but
so too can Moss and the improvisational
tone of the record can sometimes leave
it to meander without clear direction.
Nonetheless, Pools of Light can leave
you drowning in its undercurrent of
dark neo-classical.
•Cole Parker
Ron Samworth
Dogs Do Dream
Drip Audio
Composer/guitarist Ron Samworth has
created something unique on his latest
release Dogs Do Dream. Inspired by
scientific studies indicating that some
mammals, namely dogs, do dream while
sleeping, the veteran jazz musician has
crafted a suite of imagined dog dreams.
Combining spoken word narration and
freeform jazz compositions, Dogs Do
Dream is a suitably bizarre listening
experience. The narration provided
by Barbara Adler is vivid and at points
uncompromising. The text covers a
range of sensations and experiences in
the life of a dog ranging from the affectionate
(chasing a frisbee) to the unseemly
(sniffing through garbage). The
largely improvised interplay between
Samworth and long time collaborators
including Peggy Lee (cello) and Dylan
van der Schyff (drums/marimba) is commendably
cohesive in terms of creating
a mood and atmosphere to accompany
the narration. Dogs Do Dream is a
willfully difficult album but its creative
premise is undeniably avant garde.
•James Olson
July 2017 35
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