3 out of 5

Label: Reptilian Records, Expert Work Records

Produced by: J. Robbins, Nick Skrobisz (engineered by)

I do my best to stay apprised of what’s going on in the music scenes in which I (via my ears) participate; even if there are labels I don’t follow follow, they can be good seeding grounds for finding bands either directly or indirectly I dig. So, like, I’m down with the kind of grungey, grueling rock Reptilian Records favors, even if they tend to fall more on the ‘indirect’ influence.

Birth (Defects) fell on my radar with their 2025 release on Reptilian, Deceiver/Mirror; strong comparisons to various lords of 90s heavy grunge – early Nirvana, Tad, Cherubs – had my ears buzzing, and… well, the comparisons were apt. But just, like, too apt. D/M was (and would have been) a solid entry alongside albums from those groups back then, except that my ears couldn’t find the special sauce to make Birth (Defects) wholly into their own thing. It’s almost always a case of ‘what you hear first,’ though I’ve had plenty of instances of bands who do a thing I like, and then I hear a later iteration via another band that I identify as taking Band #1s idea and running with it – i.e. arguably doing it better. In this case, Birth (Defects) sound like they’re trying to swill all their influences together, and do them justice; they’re a warm-up for those Nirvana, Tad, or etc. bands.

Fictional Days, a series of covers, can only really double down on this concept. Of the tracks I know, they’ve cherry-picked tunes that really enforce their approach; if we assume they’re not all like that originally, then B(D) deserve credit for transforming all the tracks into their “sound,” though the irony would then by that their sound requires those quotes, since it still comes across as, almost exclusively, a composite of others’ sounds. I do like how far they’ve pushed the 90s disaffection – Sean Gray is the most “I can’t believe you’re making me sing” grunge singer; and the band all slump to their chords and beats with apropos late-to-the-party frustration. Their Nirvana impression on their cover of ‘I Hate Myself and I Want To Die’ is (attitude-wise) spot on, and you can’t do that without really living the life of 90s disaffection to some degree.

J. Robbins’ production doesn’t really land this for me, though I think he’s following the trend set by Nick Skrobisz from D/M and producing half the stuff here: the sludginess is amplified. Sounds that could add more dimension – squeakier highs, rougher lows, spaces between the fuzz – are minimized, emphasizing a relative flatness. Matthew Barnhart, as I’ve heard in his other masters of heavier music, smooths it all out – which wouldn’t be my preference. But he’s been playing in this scene for a while now, so the kids must love him.

…Bringing us to an inevitable conclusion: that this version of grunge / heavy music, often put out by Reptilian and falling on my ears very similarly (totally solid, totally rocks, but not super distinct), maybe just isn’t to my tastes. I mean, obviously, but I guess I’m trying to be more objective and offer: if you have loved recent RR albums that claim 90s grunge RIYLs, and especially if you loved Birth (Defects) prior release, this is probably top tier stuff. But if you’re like me, and waiting for someone to actually claim the crown from those RIYLs, this still ain’t it.