1 out of 5

Label: Acerbic Noise Development

Producer: Tyler De Witt

I love spazzcore stuff as much as the next guy, and it’s not that Tugnut does it so poorly, it’s just not that convincing.  You ready for some band comparisons?  “Sure,” you say, “even though you only chose the first reference that comes to mind and not, necessarily, the most apt reference.”  Ha ha, you funny.  So – combine later-era Daughters vocals – except more forced sounding – with Conformists style sloppy start-stop songwriting – except less purposeful sounding – with some generic thrash hardcore breakdowns – totally generic sounding.  Nutshell.

Some of these tracks find a good place for a few moments, but it’s generally when all of these conventions are just sorta’ chucked and the group goes for straight-up hardcore.  Unfortunately, within seconds they’ll realize that they’re trying to sound disjointed and weird and it begins anew.  And while it’s possible that the off-timed beats and slight delays in drum fills are purposeful (that’s that Conformists reference), they don’t convince me it’s purposeful, which is all parta’ the game.  So it sounds like that group of kids from high school who you go to see live ’cause they sit at the cool table, and you think, “Man, they’re pretty cool dudes,” but then your secret brain is sort of like “but I don’t really think they’re that great.”  They know what sounds cool, they wear the right t-shirts and have swagger, but maybe it’s sorta’ just for the chicks and in a few years they’re all accountants.  BOOM BAP I LIVE IN A BASEMENT AND BLOG REVIEWS

The slapdash wankery put-on (the crazy vocal inflection, the wandering lyrics) is put on full display with track two, ‘Johnny Winter,’ on which various people just start babbling word association amidst choppy guitar / bass stuff.  Could this work?  Sure.  But again, it just doesn’t convince.  It’s trying too hard, it’s smiling at you, it’s not the crazies like the Racebannon crazies, ya’ dig?