Aluminum Knot Eye

Reviews

Aluminum Knot Eye / Shithole split EP

Hell yeah, punks! Who the fukk says old people can’t out-weird the kids? Not Wisconsin, that’s for damn sure. SHITHOLE drops complete sonic damage on their two songs; the borderline unlistenable “Last Nerve” will take you back to late ’70s no rules madness with that one piercing, relentless four-note guitar lead, then launches into a pure No Wave freakout called “Sanctuary.” I am all in! Milwaukee’s ALUMINUM KNOT EYE makes it clear on “Homicidal Lubricant” that the two decades (and then some) they have spent in the trenches (er…bars?) have done nothing to mellow their freakout psych-punk. Ruthless sonic damage masquerading as digestible noise punk—takes your ears back to when the ’80s hardcore punks made the switch to writing songs and took the effort to spell out their nihilism plain and simple…in some ways it was scarier. This 2019 split is one of the best records I’ve heard in 2020, I feel like I need a break after one listen—to that I say “Another beer, please.”

Aluminum Knot Eye Neutered and Declawed / Pantherman 7″

These Milwaukee garage psych freaks are no closer to assimilating than they were when they started more than 20 years ago. It’s almost as if this slab is meant to draw a clear line between themselves and whatever you think is normal. Howling shrieking monotonous chaotic no rules roots punk owing as much to SCREAMIN’ JAY HAWKINS as to MC5, and with a pretty damn straight screaming cover of the ’70s Dutch glam proto-bonzer “Pantherman” on the flip, make no mistake that ALUMINUM KNOT EYE are going to continue doing whatever the fuck they want for as long as they want. High-energy monotony of the highest order.