Regional scenes have withered the last few years as record stores falter, and the Internet becomes the de facto, decentralized point of musical contact. Specific sounds are obsessed over and replicated. We’ve got dozens of Black Lips, Crystal Stilts, and Lebenden Totens (and even more of actual popular music), but the spatial disconnect means kids have been slow to make much of it besides reproduce these sonic markers and take pictures of themselves. Hope is not lost though, for something exciting is going on in Vancouver, and hometown labels Nominal Records and Grotesque Modern have done a bang up job documenting a thriving scene that effectively ties together several of the strongest elements of the past decade. Grotesque Modern label head’s one-man/two-mannequin project Random Cuts offer a triumphant triumvirate of 7”s, drawing many influences from their Seattle neighbors but incorporating elements of modern noisy post punk like his previous band, Mutators. Try as I might to avoid the comparison, there is a strong Nirvana element in Justin’s groaned howl and bass driven fuzz, though it’s the aspect of Nirvana that was trying to channel the Wipers, and none of the histrionic tantrums, or the self inflicted bass injuries. All three records have spot-on production, raw but huge. The guitars sound fantastic and varied, thick smooth fuzz, chiming rhythm riffs, and layered dissonant harmonized leads that remind me of the early Sonic Youth LPs. Hollow, thunking bass lines propel it all along. All three records are worth your time, but I’d start with “Sleep” 7”, one of the best singles I’ve heard this year; a sing along anthem opening with a wall of fuzz riff and tweaky noisy guitar bursts. “Make Damage” is second best, a further evolution of the concept, and its flipside, “Pigeon Park,” works a Bull in the Heather vibe. Three 7”s in three months and I want more. Approx. 540 copies of each on colored vinyl, with download codes. (http://www.recordsnominal.com)
(Killedbyjeff)