Featured Stock: Deathcharge: Love Was Born to an Early Grave LP

I think one of the more notable and interesting thing about the punk scene of the past 10 years or so is how few bands seem to have fully digested their influences. Whether you see it as a good or a bad thing, it’s hard to deny the fact that so many bands these days are started with the goal of sounding like one particular band or record or (only slightly better) rudimentary combinations of “X meets Y.”  I think that one of the main reasons why the debut full-length from Portland’s Deathcharge sticks out so much is that it’s nearly impossible to pin the band down with just one or two band comparisons. While you can certainly hear influences–Motorhead’s heavy, rhythmic chugging, Discharge’s unmistakable guitar sound, the riffiness of Kill ‘Em All-era Metallica, the dark vocal melodies of early Psychedelic Furs and first-gen goth rock like Bauhaus and Christian Death–none of those influences predominates here. Instead, Deathcharge just sound like Deathcharge.

Though the band released an EP way back in 2006, Love Was Born to an Early Grave is the first I’ve heard from them. I’d guess that they spent the intervening five years honing and perfecting their sound, systematically purging it of anything that seemed overly familiar or stock. What they were left with is simply one of the most phenomenal LPs I’ve heard this year. There are a lot of former crusties “going goth” (see Richmond’s Lost Tribe, for instance), but Deathcharge is so much more than that. This is just dark, gripping rock music made by punks.

All of the tracks on this record are untitled, so it’s hard to talk about particular songs, but I have two I want to talk about specifically. The second track (download here) is perhaps the goth-iest moment on the LP, beginning with a stark, tom-heavy intro that instantly recalls Bauhaus. Once it gets into the chorus part, the drums drop into the unmistakable beat from Joy Division’s “Transmission,” but this isn’t a rip-off… the guitars are atmospheric and shimmery, but they’re definitely doing their own thing. Then when they go back into that punk as fuck riff all of my mosh buttons get hit simultaneously. Pure genius! My favorite track, though, is the 4th one (download here). It begins with a gnarly as fuck riff that sounds like it could have come right off of the first Inepsy LP, but then out of nowhere comes one of the most killer leads I’ve ever heard… I’m not even sure whether it’s a synth or just a heavily effect-laden guitar, but that little guitar line has been stuck in my head for several months and it shows no sign of dislodging itself any time soon.

These are, however, just two isolated moments from this monument of an LP. It gets way more raging and it gets way more dark, and there are surprising little twists and turns buried all over this thing. I have no doubt that once word spreads about this record you are going to be seeing it on a lot of year-end lists, so grab it now before it’s too late. I’m not sure about pressing info, but it was pretty darn hard to acquire my distro copies and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get any more.

Click here to buy Love Was Born to an Early Death from Sorry State

Featured Stock: Silla Eléctrica: Ritmo Suicida LP

I think it’s a great thing that, over the past few years, the international punk scene has stood up and taken notice of Spanish punk in a way that they hadn’t before. Thanks to this new attention to old Spanish punk like Eskorbuto, Vulpess, etc. and new bands like Otan and Glam many of us have been introduced to some truly great music that we never would have heard otherwise. However, in my opinion the international HC scene’s also-current fixation on all things “raw” has caused us to overlook (at least by comparison) some of the very best current bands in Spain. While everyone is (rightfully) losing their shit over the raw Barcelona bands like Otan and Glam, the just-as-exciting stuff by two bands in particular–Silla Eléctrica (from Madrid) and Sudor (from Toledo)–get overlooked by comparison.

I’m sure I’ll write about Sudor at some point (their Ganas de Vomitar LP is one of my favorites of the year), but since I have a solid stack of Silla Eléctrica LPs in the distro right now I thought I’d shine the spotlight on them. These guys released several EPs over the past few years and caused quite a little buzz, but the lack of availability of these releases kept things from really blowing up. With meaty, Dangerhouse-inspired guitar hooks and aggressive male/female dual vocals, the earlier stuff recalled Gorilla Angreb’s earliest material (collected on the Aborted 2000 7″) as well as old, catchy female-fronted punk like the Bags and the Avengers. Not a bad start for this group at all…

However, they completely blow that earlier material out of the water with Ritmo Suicida, their debut full-length on Solo Para Punks. It’s apparent that, like the rest of us, Silla Eléctrica have been paying attention to the more raw, visceral, and aggressive end of the Spanish punk scene, as on this release they get faster, harder, and nastier than they ever have before. Many songs are delivered with such a blistering intensity that the only thing I can think to compare them to is the first Bad Brains LP… just take a listen to “Esta Canción” (download here) and marvel at how the vocalist spits out his lines with all of the velocity and ferocity of HR on “Pay to Cum.”

The speed trials inform about a third of the album, with the rest given over to the kind of catchy, driving punk that the band were already known for, albeit with better production than they’ve ever had before. Personally, I’m utterly bored with the contest over who can make the shittiest-sounding record, and so are Silla Eléctrica. The guitar sound here is thin, but stinging… not thin because it’s under-produced, but merely so that the drums, bass, and vocals have ample room in the mix to do their thing. Despite the fact that the band has two guitarists, you can hear everything here… the mix is powerful but even, not wow-ing you with the studio sheen of stadium crust but not hiding behind walls of noise either. Check out Policía, in which the lead guitar delivers a spine-chilling, two-note siren call that makes you feel like the police are right on your back. (Download here)

In addition to all of the viciousness, there are a handful of moments of sheer songwriting genius that really propel this LP into “best of the year” territory. My favorite track on the LP, “No Hay Nada Mas,” is actually a re-recording of a song from their earlier Tension EP, but the sharper production really brings out the beauty of that simple, fluid guitar line that is the song’s centerpiece. “No Hay Nada Mas” is the band at their most Gorilla Angreb-ish, but it never feels like a rip-off or in any way insincere… it’s just a reference point, one of many you could make I’m sure. (Download here)

Speaking of those reference points, the total absence of any kind of retro mentality is another thing I love about not only this release, but the best of recent Spanish punk in general. While many US bands seem utterly beholden to their influences, either shamelessly aping the sound and style of a single band or, at best, assembling a pastiche of two or three different sounds, Silla Eléctrica feel like a product of this specific moment. Records like this make me excited about listening to music, about going to record stores and generally being stoked on music. In a word, this music is inspirational, providing hope that our generation is doing more than just shamelessly rehashing the past.

Click here to buy Ritmo Suicida from Sorry State. Also, you can click here to buy No Controlo, a four-song EP released just before the LP and just as awesome.