Albums

Album Review: See You Next Tuesday

[Album: Intervals]
[Label: Ferret]

See You Next Tuesday started as a joke, claiming to play “brootal grind for brootal dudes”. However, when they realised people were listening, they knuckled down, got signed to Ferret and put out their debut, ‘Parasite’. Only they didn’t really knuckle down –- song titles like “How to Survive a Vicious Cock Fight” and “Before I Die, I’m Gonna Fuck Me a Fish” aren’t going to fool anyone into thinking you take your music that seriously.

It would appear that they’ve matured somewhat since their last album. In the words of bassist Travis Martin “the funny song titles are gone, the jokes are gone, it has a different feel to it”. Musically they haven’t changed that much –- they’re still noisey, slightly arty grind — but the feel is way darker and even more vicious. This is what I like to call a Good Thing. See, I can’t stand it when a band plays their instruments like the world’s ending, and then write nonsense “funny” lyrics and just make angry vocal noises that don’t actually transmit the words across anyway –- so this move into darker territory is right up my alley.

Along with this new found maturity, the band have also discovered a fondness for experimenting too -– the appropriately titled ‘Dedication to a New Era’ remains drumless for almost a minute and half (longer than many of the tracks), instead just pummelling you with thick sludgy guitars and bass that you can feel as much as hear. There’s mention of screamo influences and unusual tunings in the press release, and you can hear weird discordant chord shapes all over the place. There’s an (un)healthy dose of sludge, which is a guaranteed way to make the fast bits seems faster and the whole album sound even nastier. The closing track ‘January and On’ steps almost completely away from grindcore and into post-hardcore, with the distortion backed off just a touch in the intro, and ending to the sounds of a ticking clock.

‘In The End’ is the a great way to kick things off, with it stop-start dynamics and the drums playing what can only be described as the grindcore equivalent of a shuffle beat. New vocalist Chris Fox gets to show off his entire range of squealing noises too. ‘Alpha’ is a 3 second burst of syncopated white noise that rivals Napalm Death’s classic ‘Dead’ for pure distilled grind. ‘Forever on Deaf Ears’ has some awkward time signatures and odd changes in what is otherwise a really straight-forward and unusually mid-paced track. Beyond that, I can’t pick out any favourites because I love everything on this CD.

The production has the kind of sound only a grindcore band could like and get away with –- the guitars are horrendously fuzzy, and like I mentioned before the bass is often more of a physical presence than a musical one. The drums are clicky as Hell and sound tiny, but the kick drum has got some punch to it and the snare has enough body to make sure it isn’t lost under the noise. The vocals are handled brilliantly, with the full range of screaming sounding incredibly (for want of a better word) brutal. There’s even layered vocals! The album was mastered by Scott Hull of Pig Destroyer/Agoraphobic Nosebleed fame, and he’s done a grand job of getting maximum gut-punch without sacrificing the dynamics of the playing (stop laughing).

For a band that plays such raw music, there’s a surprising amount of emotion in the playing –- obviously not everyone will hear it, but to fans of the genre it makes a huge difference to know the band are still musicians and not just technicians. There’s also not a wasted moment on the whole thing. They don’t put a foot wrong on the whole thing really, and when they do it for such short periods of time you won’t even notice.

In case you hadn’t noticed, I quite like this album. It’s everything grindcore should be –- fast, loud, nasty and noisey –- but it still manages to retain a character all its own. When you’re songs are only a minute long, that’s incredibly difficult to achieve. On top of that, there are a few memorable chunks and some successful experimentation. Ending the album with a more traditional ‘song’ is a great ploy too, as it means you walk away with the albums only real hook fresh in your mind.

This is a sizable improvement on their debut, and sets the bar really high for the future. They may have started as a joke, but Goddamn they sound like they mean business now. An absolute must for any grind fan.

For Fans Of: Watchmaker, Daughters, Pig Destroyer

Band Link:
See You Next Tuesday

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