With a name like Warish, the San Diego noisy punk-metal trio assured listeners they were in for a maniacal bludgeoning from the get-go. But the band has never been as dark and bitingly vicious as the wholly ominousNext To Pay. The band’s mix of earlyAmRep skronk, dark horror rock and budget doom antipathy is taken to a whole new level on this 13-song invective.“‘Next To Pay’ is about a sense of imminent doom, everyone is going to die,” vocalist/guitarist Riley Hawk says. “It’s not the happiest record, I guess.” To say the least. On the title track opener, Hawk screams through shredded vocal chords with the tuneful rage ofKill ‘Em Allera James Hetfield and the seethingdesperation of Kurt Cobain.“This album is more of an evolution, it’s a little more punk-heavy,”Hawk says of the group quickly founded in 2018. “We figured outwhat our sound was.” And with that evolution comes a change inthe lineup. Original drummer Nick (Broose) McDonnell plays on about half of the songs, while new drummer Justin de la Vegabrings an even tighter urgency to the remaining, more recenttracks. Bassist Alex Bassaj joined after the debut album was recorded and here showcases muscular and melodic low end previously missing. Riley Hawk is also the pro-skater son of Tony Hawk. Inspired by early-Nirvana,The Misfits,The Spits and Master of Reality-eraBlack Sabbath,Next To Pay keeps things heavy and pummeling at all times.The guitars are heavy and powerful, though decidedly not straightforward cookie cutter punk; more likeGreg Ginn’s and Buzz Osbourne’s wiry contortions, and occasionally drenched in chorus effects. The rhythms bash right through it all with aggressive force ensuring that nothing gets overly complicated. Warish’s cover of 80s Dischord Records punksGray Matterturns the emotive flail of “Burn No Bridges” into a Motorhead style basher.Next To Paywill be available on LP, CD and download on April30th, 2021 viaRidingEasy Records.
Deathchant
Heavy music’s evolution has always been a murky swamp of sub-genres. So, combining Thin Lizzy’s glistening twin guitar harmonies with Melvinsgrade sludge and a hearty dose of proto-metal psych probably shouldn’t sound so revolutionary as it does in the hands of L.A. quartet Deathchant. But theirs is a special, transcendent sound.
Waste, the band’s sophomore album and first for RidingEasy Records, is anything but. The 33-minute, 7-song blast flows seamlessly from song to song, aided by droning segues, while simultaneously slithering between genres and moods. Rumbling noise, chiming guitar melodies, bluesy boogie, NWOBHM thrash, COC grunge and punk fury all rear their head at times, sometimes all at once.
Though you wouldn’t be able to tell by the concise structures and wellcrafted songs, a lot of Deathchant’s music is improvised, both in the studio and live. That’s not to suggest their songs are jammy — they’re very tightly organized compositions. But the four musicians have that special musical telepathy that allows them to keep the song structures open-ended.
“Improv is a huge things for us and always has been,” singer/guitarist T.J. Lemieux says. “The musical freedom to look at the other dudes in the band and be able to take things wherever we want to go is magical. I like the feel of flying off the hinges.”
Likewise, the band itself is similarly amorphous in its membership. “We run the band with an open door. No lineup is definitive,” Lemieux explains. On Waste, the lineup is: Lemieux, George Camacho on bass, Colin Fahrner on drums, and John Belino on second guitar. Waste was recorded live in a rented cabin in the mountains of Big Bear, CA. “We packed a big-ass van and set up in the living room and kitchen,” Lemieux says. “Tracked it live, with overdubs after.” The whole album was recorded over two separate weekends, engineered by Steve Schroeder, who also recorded the band’s 2019 self-titled debut album. “I’d say it has sort of a DIY LA punk aesthetic,” he adds. “Very ironically going hand in hand with a classic metal vibe: Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, classic Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and other melodic heavy rock bands.” Waste will be available on LP, CD and download on June 25th, 2021 via RidingEasy Records.
The Bobby Lees
THE BOBBY LEES are a young, Garage Rock band out of Woodstock NY.
Audiotox UK said “Their raw and unapologetic energy promises to make you feel alive!” Find them and see for yourself. Their new album SKIN SUIT was produced by underground punk-legend Jon Spencer of the Blues Explosion and was released via Alive Naturalsound Records in 2020. Henry Rollins said “The Bobby Lees Skin Suit album is wild and different. I dug it immediately. Dangerous music is good for you”. THE BOBBY LEES have played with The Black Lips, Chats, The Gories, Boss Hog, and Future Islands.