This is a pure 'spirit of D.I.Y' release and one that has had Yeah Buddy! pretty damn excited. Fair play this review has been a little while in the making but we've had shit on, so calm down.
So basically, Punching Swans feature Greg Webster, formerly of the superb Houdini who you will find, unfortunately, in our Band Graveyard. That is a great start, but there's more; 'Mollusc', their first release since 2012 is brought to our faces by newly formed indie label Skingasm Records, who're run by the Bear vs Manero lads. They told me "the plan is to get some eyes on the scene going on in Kent, where a bunch of interesting noise is happening". Now for any self respecting appreciators of independently made music out there, you've got to really wanna hear this album after knowing its back story.
'Mollusc' is a selection of maniacal, foamy mouthed beasts that Punching Swans have deemed twisted and dirty enough to be released from their skewered monster workshop and into the open.
Opener 'Favourite Nightmare' starts on a relatively gentle note before impatiently lunging into a fast paced, aggressive soirée of adrenaline pumping loudness. You don't want this to stop and it really doesn't.
Not wanting to have given a false impression the band maintain the pressure through the disjointed, thumper 'Limpet' and theatrically despicable 'Clown Karma'.
Yells, yelps and slurs lead us into 'Beach Party' and I have no other choice but to join the inaudible cries and raise my voice along with Punching Swans as the line "sit down, shut up, there's something wrong with this picture" hits. I am quite impressionable and this song is a bad influence on me
The songwriting rule book is completely disregarded for 'Hell Fissure' as the bands punk ethic comes full circle. By the time you've even realised what is happening the song is done and it is time to go around again.
"Get your animal out of the house, get the human out of his cage" is always going to be the kind of unsettling demand that will leave you wanting to know more. 'Rhino in Heels' is the peak of the bleak and disturbing, end of days imagery that makes 'Mollusc' into the twisted beauty that it is. The perfect follow up to this then is 'Deadhead', with its distorted, horrorshow intro and its Pied Piper of death storyline. And as the walls around you continue to quickly rot revealing the falling skies outside them, 'Mollusc' continues to perfectly flow into the next chapter of doom.
The title track is a vivid and somewhat theatrical depiction of a man being possessed by the 'Mollusc'. Two sets of vocals collide one as the possessee and the other as the possessor; "Mollusc gonna get in my head, (I'm gunna get in your head) Mollusc gunna eat my brain (I'm gunna eat your brain)". This is a brilliant way of telling the story and becomes a concept song for the concept album, as the takeover is complete a clashing, clanging, cataclysmic climax launches us fluently into the next track.
'Monster Pilots' continues the apocalyptic theme as tribal drums and chanting vocals tell the story of an evil creature takeover. And so we end with the superb 'I Was Born Every Year'. Coming in two parts almost, it is the fantastical, diabolical, hellacious finisher that you would expect from such a doom-laden disaster-piece of a story. I won't spoil the ending for you but as the line "He was a flaccid penis in the mouth of a black hole" suggests, it is pretty grim.
So, as it goes, Skingasm records' first release is one of monstrous proportions, a prime candidate to be the story and soundtrack of a smash, cult B-Movie. It is a simple and enjoyable listen for anyone who like to hear grungy, high octane heft, but at the same time, it is a spectacular album if you are into your lyrics, storytelling and well-grafted songwriting, which I am. Top class, what else have yall got? Punching Swans? Skingasm? Kent?
Krystian Hudson
So basically, Punching Swans feature Greg Webster, formerly of the superb Houdini who you will find, unfortunately, in our Band Graveyard. That is a great start, but there's more; 'Mollusc', their first release since 2012 is brought to our faces by newly formed indie label Skingasm Records, who're run by the Bear vs Manero lads. They told me "the plan is to get some eyes on the scene going on in Kent, where a bunch of interesting noise is happening". Now for any self respecting appreciators of independently made music out there, you've got to really wanna hear this album after knowing its back story.
'Mollusc' is a selection of maniacal, foamy mouthed beasts that Punching Swans have deemed twisted and dirty enough to be released from their skewered monster workshop and into the open.
Opener 'Favourite Nightmare' starts on a relatively gentle note before impatiently lunging into a fast paced, aggressive soirée of adrenaline pumping loudness. You don't want this to stop and it really doesn't.
Not wanting to have given a false impression the band maintain the pressure through the disjointed, thumper 'Limpet' and theatrically despicable 'Clown Karma'.
Yells, yelps and slurs lead us into 'Beach Party' and I have no other choice but to join the inaudible cries and raise my voice along with Punching Swans as the line "sit down, shut up, there's something wrong with this picture" hits. I am quite impressionable and this song is a bad influence on me
The songwriting rule book is completely disregarded for 'Hell Fissure' as the bands punk ethic comes full circle. By the time you've even realised what is happening the song is done and it is time to go around again.
"Get your animal out of the house, get the human out of his cage" is always going to be the kind of unsettling demand that will leave you wanting to know more. 'Rhino in Heels' is the peak of the bleak and disturbing, end of days imagery that makes 'Mollusc' into the twisted beauty that it is. The perfect follow up to this then is 'Deadhead', with its distorted, horrorshow intro and its Pied Piper of death storyline. And as the walls around you continue to quickly rot revealing the falling skies outside them, 'Mollusc' continues to perfectly flow into the next chapter of doom.
The title track is a vivid and somewhat theatrical depiction of a man being possessed by the 'Mollusc'. Two sets of vocals collide one as the possessee and the other as the possessor; "Mollusc gonna get in my head, (I'm gunna get in your head) Mollusc gunna eat my brain (I'm gunna eat your brain)". This is a brilliant way of telling the story and becomes a concept song for the concept album, as the takeover is complete a clashing, clanging, cataclysmic climax launches us fluently into the next track.
'Monster Pilots' continues the apocalyptic theme as tribal drums and chanting vocals tell the story of an evil creature takeover. And so we end with the superb 'I Was Born Every Year'. Coming in two parts almost, it is the fantastical, diabolical, hellacious finisher that you would expect from such a doom-laden disaster-piece of a story. I won't spoil the ending for you but as the line "He was a flaccid penis in the mouth of a black hole" suggests, it is pretty grim.
So, as it goes, Skingasm records' first release is one of monstrous proportions, a prime candidate to be the story and soundtrack of a smash, cult B-Movie. It is a simple and enjoyable listen for anyone who like to hear grungy, high octane heft, but at the same time, it is a spectacular album if you are into your lyrics, storytelling and well-grafted songwriting, which I am. Top class, what else have yall got? Punching Swans? Skingasm? Kent?
Krystian Hudson