Crimes＜Bone White Vinyl＞

Crimes is Blood Brothers' V2 debut, and their fourth album overall. The quintet is still led by blaring, interwoven vocals of Johnny Whitney and Jordan Blilie. One screams and yelps in a very high register, the other is not so high, but still great at screaming. The Brothers' basic sound is jagged and post-punk-derived, full of hyper percussion and jerking, screeching guitars. But while this might sound like chaos, it's not. Like Whirlwind Heat or the Icarus Line, the Blood Brothers always provide a counterweight to their noisier, freakier sides. Depending on the song, that weight can either be furious rock energy, laptop experimentation, or pianos and accordions used in illegal ways. Crimes keeps a tight lid on the nervous energy that's always defined the group, channeling it into aggressive songs that often suggest the damaged, exciting grooves of vintage Brainiac (particularly "Teen Heat" and "Trash Flavored Trash"), as well as subtler numbers with atmosphere to spare. Though it periodically explodes into a metal-ish racket, "Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck" pulsing rhythms and arching guitar lines mostly follow the contours of the dance-punk scene en vogue in the early 2000s. The title track skulks along with a plodding bassline and lyrics about robbing liquor stores and wandering through landfills; it eventually recedes into the rich tones of a Wurlitzer, and the vocalists' quiet sighs. "Celebrator" begins as an a cappella dirge, but detonates unexpectedly into raucous triple-time. Other highlights include the lurching, grinding opener, "Feed Me to the Forest," the frantic, piano-driven "Peacock Skeleton With Feathers," and "My First Kiss at the Public Execution," which finds an incredibly sharp chorus hook in between its bloodcurdling screams. ~ Johnny Loftus

シアトルの5人組、ブラッド・ブラザーズがV2にレーベルを移籍し、通算4作目となるニュー・アルバム『Crimes』をリリース!　ツイン・ヴォーカルの片割れであるハイトーン担当のジョニー・ホワイトニーの歌声が、なんだかどんどん人間から遠ざかっていってミュータント度にさらに拍車がかかっている。そしてなんといっても、プログレ～ジャズ～サイケ～ハードロック～ヘヴィメタル～ハードコアを丸飲みして秒速で吐き出したかのようなサウンドは、さらにさらにハイテンション!　変態狂激宇宙度はアップしているのに、なぜか超キャッチーな楽曲群! 〈なんじゃこりゃ?〉と聴く者を錯乱させる術を、ここで完全に心得た感が強い連中の過激なサウンドは、もうすでに〈節〉の域に突入中!　バンド・キャリアに比例して増してきている、このスッキリとした後味。さらに病みつきになること必至ですぞ!
bounce (C)KATOMAN