Reviews

Antigen

Earth Mother Fucker IVF CD

Live recordings are a tough sell in the best of circumstances. I tend to avoid them, even with bands that I love. I do not love EARTH MOTHER FUCKER. They’ve apparently been around since the late ’80s, though this was my first time hearing them. IVF is a seven-song live set of bog standard angular noise rock. The bulk of the songs appear to come from the band’s early era. Maybe they sounded more inspired then. Their signature track is titled “I Fuck Therefore I Am.” Cool. This is like hearing JESUS LIZARD overdose on Ambien and boredom. Snooze.

Pound Land Mugged LP

Derby’s POUND LAND punches you straight in the face with their noisy and chaotic breed of industrial-flavored no wave. Built on top of a heavy, mid-tempo foundation of distorted bass and hypnotic drums, guitars and electronics take the role of adding an intense wall of all kinds of noises and textures. Even though it’s a sound that thrives on repetition, Mugged never gets boring at any point, thanks to the psychotic lyrics delivered with delirious perfection and the saxophone that is constantly going through an intense episode of glossolalia. Plus, I’m a big fan of the warm and welcoming smile of that fella on the cover.