Terror Management Band Austerity Gospel LP
This is the second LP from this Florida crew, featuring Mike Taylor of PALATKA fame. Everyone here’s been in five other bands with names like MINIMUM RAGE or STAB THAT MOTHERFUCKER, so the pedigree is real. They bill themselves as “Southern Gothic noise rock,” and what that translates to is 39 minutes of feedback, lurching riffs, and rant-sung vocals that evoke the experience of someone cornering you at a party to explain why everything is collapsing. The problem for me is momentum. When I think noise rock, I default to the AmRep strain of ’90s bands that sounded relentless, punishing, always moving forward. Austerity Gospel doesn’t really deliver that drive. Too often, the music sinks into plodding tempos without the weight that might make those moments feel crushing. Instead, some of these songs drift toward post-rock soundscapes. The second song “Minorcan” especially feels more MOGWAI than UNSANE, which for me blunts the record’s impact. Not a bad album by any stretch, but it left me wanting more force, less drift. Maybe it’s about expectations? Check it out if you’re a fan of music that drifts between post-hardcore, post-rock, and noise rock without fully committing to any. “The Chisel” was probably my favorite track.