YOUNG WIDOWS - Settle Down City

Made up of 3/4 of Breather Resist, Young Widows (from Louisville, Kentucky) basically play a mix of noise, evolved hardcore and claustrophobic post-punk — something that could sit right between Jesus Lizard, Drunk Tank and Big Black. Noisy, tormented music, swept up in maximalist outbursts and plunged into apocalyptic scenarios.

The title track and the following "Almost Dead Beat" already make for a pretty impressive calling card: the interlocking rhythms, the razor-sharp guitar and the hyped-up vocals, fiery and theatrical in the manner of that certified madman Yow (Jesus Lizard). We're talking bacchanals for emotional collapses, and it hardly matters if at times the resemblance to their masters goes beyond mere inspiration (the guitar lashes and the vicious pounding of "Glad He Ate Her", a track that owes a lot to "Gladiator" by the band behind "Goat"). While "Small Talk" plays the card of a psychedelia applied to mathematical racket, "Formererer" grinds out rage, reverb and distortion like crazed sparks, launching into sudden, detonating surges. The triadic bass-drums-guitar structure grinds out power and desperation, martial pulse and acid trajectories ("Bruised Knees"), and the machine-gun bursts are right there, directly on your face, as if behind the glass, keeping everything in balance, was a certain Steve Albini ("Mirrorfucker").

So here's the point of these razor-slashes, ever sharper, ever more remarkable. A tradition that regenerates itself, despite never having faded or been forgotten. The groove, in short, is still the kind that smashes everything ("The Charmers"), the lyrics are still gasoline on the fire, and the overall sense is still one of metallic chaos incredibly kept in check by the sheer will to never let go, whatever happens ("The First Half"). Still, Young Widows also know how to step back a little, pretending to relax, but like dogs that nonetheless keep their attention fixed on their territory ("New Forest"), or that unsettle precisely because they seem strangely harmless ("We Don't Know"). And ultimately, it's worth taking note: their next record, if it manages to shake off the shadow of its masters, will make a splash that won't easily be forgotten.

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30/10/2006