JWORDS – SOUND THERAPY

Maybe I’m left confused or I just don’t know what it is I’m talking about anymore. With a number singles, eps, and extended eps under her belt, Brooklyn producer Jennifer Hernandez – under the moniker JWords – shares the new Sound Therapy. This is the first time the beat maker emerges as a vocalist throughout the release. Musically, she treads through trippy house music, occasionally glitched stylings, which is delivered quite elegantly and you can get lost within the sultriness of it all. But – there’s always a but – her spoken, flat vocal delivery, um, is less than pleasurable. It’s just there. But I do dig “Clarity” which features Nappy Nina who spits quickly here. My suggestion would be to stick to the production aspect of it because yeah, there’s so much talent in making these compositions.

BASEMENT – WIRE

Bands come and go, go and come, come back around again, go off to do other things, then find themselves comfortably nestled back to where they started. It should always be about shit or get off the fucking pot – unless it’s the Jesus Lizard because then it’s just a shut-the-fuck-up-and-let-them-play moment. But everyone else, yeah, stop, drop, shut ‘em down, and open up shop.

Basement has always seemed to be an international indie darling, allowing the music to talk for itself. The modern-day 90s-influenced emo group returns, once again, with its new album Wire (Run For Cover Records), its first album in eight years, and there’s absolutely no way in hell anyone can be angry about it. Some might look at my use of “emo” as condescending or possibly hateful, but to the contrary, this is different. Much different. While I joke about the band’s on and off appearances on stage, the members move with various interests, but like so many, I’m sure people are just happy to see the English outfit back in action. The band kicks off Wire with “Time Waster,” an obvious attention grabber which leans into a standard verse-chorus-verse composition with all the changes in the right places, but the group also includes dynamic shifts which are sure to have you pogoing in place. It gets your attention right away. No, I don’t care what they’re singing about because I just want to yell along – that’s how fucking good it is! Ok, that’s exhausting, but it’s only because I’ve played it over and over again. Basement then rides the radio wave of the album’s title track, which builds around a friendly melody and taunts with its infectious chorus of “Die! For a little while.” I mean, it makes sense since we have vocalist Andrew Fisher singing, “There’s a reason, for the choices you have made / there’s a season, filled with razor blades / If I told you, once or a thousand times / would you listen, would you change your mind (unless you)…” It’s pretty emotional, juxtaposed against a catchy melody, and if you weren’t paying attention, you might miss it. Yeah, that’s brilliance right there that only other artists like Damien Jurado can evoke some kind of emotion out of me. But yes, the intention the band has hits hard here!

The group doesn’t always have to rely on powerful riffs and shouted choruses though, and Basement shows its prowess through the songwriting itself. “Broken By Design” highlights the delicacy shown with guitars and the steady rhythm. Vocals are softer as well, tender almost, allowing the song’s buttery softness. It’s another track that isn’t easy to erase from memory, embedding itself into the back of your mind’s database. But it’s the heart-wrenching “Embrace” that just might leave you enthralled. The song itself moves from quiet virility to powerfully somber, while lyrically, something is dying inside or out. When Fisher sings “Hold on to this moment / when it leaves, it won’t return,” you’re left wondering if time has taken its toll or if a heart is broken..? It could be both, but when he adds, “How do we go on, after the love is gone? How do we survive when they leave without saying goodbye?” You might be left with more questions than answers. It’s clever AF, and you’re left to interpret it how you see fit.

Throughout Wire, Basement has listeners like emotional whack-a-moles, jumping from one moment to the next without warning. Expect the unexpected, and that’s what the group offers here, moving in one direction and then side-stepping another way. And it’s accomplished flawlessly.

THE FAMILY MEN – CO/DE/TERMINATION

Occasionally, we may think of our youth, the damage we caused, the concerts we were able to sneak into, and the fun we had. It was never at the expense of others – or maybe it was – but it was something memorable. But those days of heading into Madison Square Garden with fake tickets, just to see larger-than-life outfits like U2 or Depeche Mode, were nothing compared to hitting smaller clubs catching indie, industrial, and noise bands. While some groups were able to surpass, probably their own expectations for a brief moment in time, they were still better than most. The youth today will never know that experience, without leaving traces of evidence.

The Swedish band The Family Men return with its second full-length release, CO/DE/TERMINATION (Welfare Sounds & Records), and considering it’s my introduction to the group, there’s nothing to blemish opinions of the group. There’s a healthy dose of brutality within the band’s musical delivery, but this is something many of us have come to understand. The Gothenburg quartet leans heavily on guitar savagery and fierce vocal deliveries, getting down to the root of its industrial tenacity. The band opens with “Calamity,” and yes, while making reference or comparison might come at a frugal price, it’s warranted. The Men takes their lead from Al Jourgensen’s penchant for creating high-speed chases, highlighted by unrelenting guitar sputters. The final output? Sinister melodies permeate throughout the song, and it’s infuriatingly good. Yeah, the band knows how to maneuver through the genre to create something exciting. And then I realize it’s not a one-off. “AOR” slows things down a bit, and the group gets into a groove, underlaid with electronics and an occasional wall of guitar explosion. Took me a sec to get it, but this just might be a throwback to a land before time, when 1000 Homo DJs walked with their Revolting Cocks, and Pigface, covered in Lard, roamed the earth. It’s easy to get behind The Family Men.

Honestly, the current state of what’s touted as industrial music has taken a dive, and what we’re left with is a wasteland of pop bands who think they’re tough. The Family Men don’t seem to be pretentious in that way. “Skull Theft” tosses in an opening sample, “The room began to smell like burning flesh,” before the band enters with a full frontal attack, utilizing their respective instruments as weapons of mass destruction. Maybe these are the ones George W. was actually looking for. The melody, the rhythm, the distortion, and the eerie keys all conjoin together like a twisted monstrosity with distorted vocals atop it all. Things have never felt as seamless as this. This is the controlled chaos with middle fingers thrown in the air. It isn’t all about having guitars up front and center, and on “New Clear,” the group is able to find vulnerability within its instruments. The melancholy resounds around it, with vocals layered out in the distance and samples floating throughout. It’s another side of the group, juxtaposed against its much heavier, tumultuous one that we hear. It’s a welcome difference that gives an idea of who and what the band truly is. But sometimes, I’m just here for the chaos. That’s a bit of what we get more of when we enter “Heaven,” still tinged with an industrial output, dominated by a guitar rhythm and a much more post-hardcore pronounced vocal delivery, filled with dissonant notes.

Now, while there may be some nostalgic feel to CO/DE/TERMINATION, it makes no difference. The Family Men put on one hell of a show within the music alone. There’s an open transparency, giving us hints of what fueled it all while also giving the band the ability to noticeably be itself.