Big Laugh

Reviews

Big Laugh Days of Disarray LP

Possible swan song from this Milwaukee hardcore band, and it’s a ripper. This 12” EP contains four tracks of complex punk, mixing big riffs, metallic palm-muted chugging, and layers of intricate sonic variations that keep each moment exciting like a blend of INSIDE OUT’s attitude with FUCKED UP’s compositional intricacy. The whole record is great, but “Vacation” stands out with its blend of aggression and textural minor-key fuzz. Check this one out, and let’s cross our fingers that it’s not the last from BIG LAUGH.

Big Laugh Manic Revision EP

I reviewed this record for Undergrounz Zine the first day it came out ’cause I thought it was too much. I think I must’ve listened to it twenty or so times in a row. It’s kind of a cyclic album; the instrumental fade-out in the last song, “Fazed,” works as a transition to the epic drums that open the EP in “Imposter.” The whole vibe of this reeks of the ABUSED, from the artwork, which pays tribute to the Loud and Clear aesthetic, to the sound. Or, better, the ABUSED meets This is Boston Not L.A., because BIG LAUGH merges heavier passages with more fluid ones, but always without losing strength and presence. I said it before, I’ll say it again, their strength is how they managed to combine that overfall of dizzy, hectic guitar riffs and omnipresent drum work, hard as nails, that sweeps everything else with the power of a cascade. BIG LAUGH is the best example that Milwaukee hardcore is alive and kicking.