Head Wound / Soft Exit split cassette
Fucking rad split release from two innovative projects out of Kuwait. I love hearing bands from underrepresented regions, and this one smokes. HEAD WOUND presents a four-track stylistic buffet of modern punk that genre hops and never loses a sense of frenzied energy. “D.B.V.T.Y.” glides effortlessly between heavily produced and melodic NINE INCH NAILS-style alt/industrial into blitzes of full-volume, full-mayhem cyber grind. The next song, “Evel Knievel,” pairs dissonant post-punk with stuttering, effusive vocals, sounding like BLACK EYES for a minute before touching on metallic sludge and remixed egg-punk. Is it unfocused? Sure, but the intensity runs so high that it functions as a unified piece. SOFT EXIT might stretch the bounds of some MRR expectations with their experimental junk IDM, but the four tracks here work as a counterpoint to Side One. Think of a dumpster dive behind the Warp Records warehouse while an Arabic chant narrates your digging. Skittery drums and warm synths play hopscotch with massive black hole club beats and field-recorded speech samples. It is bewildering and head-bobbing. Check it out!