dumb, Self-Cut Bangs, and Always a Bad Thing
dumb
Pray 4 Tomorrow // Mint Records
Vancouver punks Dumb are back with their 3rd album Pray 4 Tomorrow out now on Mint Records. They take on some pretty bleak topics looming in our collected future, from the crushing weight of capitalism to the ever-worsening climate emergency with some familiar punk sounds but also show off some new tricks.
The opening track “Foot Control” jumps right in with what I’d call Dumb’s signature sound; dissaffected lyrics on an eclectic mix of dissonant guitars and a steady bass melody. The following tracks keep the energy up; “Gibberish” is a take on the fickle relationship between an artist and their fans and “Excuse Me?” shows off Dumb’s writing as a great psych rock song with a solid hook. The album’s main idea comes through in the album’s second single “Pull Me Up”. It alternates between bright instrumentation on jaunty verses about society’s current failings before that falls away into a sinking, spiraling chorus of “Feels like nothing ever changes / Pushing boulders / Picking clovers / Making bread”.
The album shifts to a slower pace in the next tracks, but the bleakness continues. “30 Degrees” deals with the climate emergency facing our planet and how the government and corporations are not doing enough. “Dropout” and “Sleep Like A Baby” feature Kristy-Lee Audette on trumpet and show off Dumb’s ska side; the way “Sleep Like A Baby” goes from a great ska song with driving up strums and a great hook to a dreamy reprise of the horns from “Dropout” is a wonderful choice that lets the song drift away beautifully.
They don’t let the reverie last long though, before you know it they fly into a quick set of punk tracks letting their grievances with Boomers be known on “Watch This Drive” and “Out of Touch”, then laying into politicians on “Fully Compromised”. “Pensar” takes a break from the at times tongue in cheek lyrics and turns the cannons on the folks who are well intentioned, but don’t do anything about it. Lyrics like “Don't tell me what you're thinking if you just stand behind / Don't go running away when you've got nowhere to hide / It won't go away” are shouted over a writhing tangle of guitar and bass with the energy and frustration that calls for a good mosh. The album continues on to show more of the Dumb’s versatility; the guitar-powered groove on indie rock track “Civic Duty” pivots to the 80’s psych rock vibes of “77” and “Grey Area” and again changes tack on the album's final track "The Entertainer" which starts soft and meandering then finishes with a crescendo that ties it all together.
On Pray 4 Tomorrow lead vocalist Franco Rossino shares the mic with Dumb’s other talented lyricists; Shelby Vredik sings on the folky “Strange is the Morning” and the “The Entertainer”, and Pipe Morelli vents his frustrations on “Pensar” and does a great David Byrne on “77”. As Dumb continues on, they’ve expanded their sound and have done so with few misses. They’re still able to blast a 1:30 scorcher like “Desolation” but also have the knowledge to step back on the subdued “Strange is the Morning”. In all, Pray 4 Tomorrow is a great album; it’s Dumb reinforcing themselves as punk mainstays while broadening their depth in some beautiful ways.
- Alex Brassard
Self-Cut Bangs
Circle Around the Free // Self-Released
Self-Cut Bangs’ sophomore album Circle Around The Free cuts through the noise with their driving sound, a mix of garage rock, post-punk, and power pop.
The Calgary-based band was formed by Cayley O'Neill (Dark Time) and Shawn Petsche (Napalmpom). They are joined by Dillon Whitfield (Astral Swans, Reuben & The Dark) on guitar, Nicola Cavanagh (Cardiograms, Night Committee) on bass, and Joel Nye (Hot Little Rocket) on drums.
The opening song, “Shivers,” explodes with a slicing guitar riff coupled with O’Neill’s vocals and a scuzzy baseline. They move from the rock feeling of “Shivers” to “Ludo,” which has more of a pop feel.
However, it is “Stargazer” that really commands your attention. The guitar and synths slash and rip through the heavy baseline.
It is in “In Colour” that shows a darker, mellower side of O’Neill’s vocals with harmonies from Nicola while keeping your head banging to the rhythm. “Eye to Eye.”
In “Wake” synths are layered like waves under the vocals, and it makes quite an impression with the echoing voice with a semi-naked base with minimal percussion support until the guitar comes crashing in around the 30-second mark for the chorus.
The album rolls through “Never Say Never” to the extra scuzz on “Pick Up,” which really wakes you up almost as much as the busy dial tone at the end of the song.
“Abraham” builds and then deconstructs itself. The drum beat holds everything together and is “the one running the show” on this track, even with the powerful vocals.
The base continues down the heavy line on “Make Believe.” This track has playfully distorted vocals made for the future.
The title track, “Circle Around The Free,” starts with commanding drums and then layers everything on top.
My favourite track on the album, “Gibberish,” comes out of nowhere with base that slaps so hard you aren’t sure what happened. It talks with layered vocal harmonies, and the guitar moves from a sweet riff to chaos to a piercing solo and back to chaos.
If nothing else, “Head Start” will get you to start headbanging. It starts with distortion and drums and brings in the heavy base. This song uses space to create swells from fast and slow, heavy to sweet pop, to driving power pop. It travels through many moods and feelings while letting you breathe.
If you want to rock out on a sonic journey, Self-Cut Bangs’ Circle Around The Free won’t let you down.
- Keeley Braunstein-Black
Always a Bad Thing
he who lies with robots // Baffled Octopi Records
Never satisfied to fit snugly into any category, Victoria-based experimental duo Always a Bad Thing have slithered and rumbled further afield into new territory on their latest album, he who lies with robots. Each member has well-established work under their own solo monikers Elura (Nick Roland) and Purveyors of Free Will (Mark Anthony Brennan), and in coming together in this Janus-headed form their conversations have ranged from industrial freakouts to scorched-earth atmospheres and spectral electro ambience.
From the howling wind at the opening of “Snow is Comin’,” weird bird calls echo into the haunted night and a wobbly percussion section marches into the winter scene, bringing with it restless synthesiser scribbles and a forlorn voice: “Snow is comin’ / Better get inside.” It is a fitting warning for what is to come, as the alien psycho-circus of the title track kicks in the door with phasers set to kill. It is a disorienting trip through a short-circuited It’s a Small World ride, all the puppets burned beyond recognition, the gears worn through, the machine falling apart. The pivot into the shimmery music-box opening “Henrietta Pauses for a Smoke” is suspenseful, and as the glitchy digital artefacts climb out of the dark like broken toys, the sublime is shrouded in menace. The heroic march of “The Killing Garden” spotlights ABT’s flair for cinematic grandeur, and the magnificently cartoonish cacophony of “Conversations Between Androids” displays their knack for the cheeky and absurd— maybe a lighthearted jab at the typically dystopian narratives around the rise of AI in contemporary culture.
he who lies with robots is full of ideas, at times taking on the qualities of a long lost soundtrack, and always overflowing with texture and atonal sound. Sound for the sake of sound, pleasure in sound: noise, the swirly-then-jagged and the upside-down-and-inside-out. With titles that could either sound like a Michel Foucault book (“Politics and Desire”) or stage directions for a film noir script (“Henrietta Pauses for a Smoke”), the sheer variousness of the album is dizzying, and that is by design. Through all the murkiness and rapid U-turns and disorienting nosedives, what is certain is that Always a Bad Thing are true blue sound obsessives, music freaks, heads. The Sound is king, formula and structure be damned. The trip is bumpy and bizarre, but that is exactly why you sign up to ride.
- Harman Burns
