Summer of Noise Vol. 1: New music from Vacuist ahead of a bangin' live show with BEDTIMEMAGIC
Plus: Mast Year have entered the chat.
Boston prog/noise/nu metal (fight me, Mica…) quartet Vacuist have a new record out today, LACERATIONS // STRAINS and it’s a good ‘un.
Okay, okay. They’re not a nu metal band, but one can dream. In conversation with guitarist/vocalist Mica Deposit the other day, I’d mentioned that their new track Bolster was giving me some nu metal vibes in one part of the song and that this was making me very happy. Mica told me, “I still find it weird to have nu metal comparisons. I was mostly drawing from post-hardcore/early metalcore, but I guess that's the horseshoe theory. You draw from hardcore long enough and rounds back into nu metal.”
I think this theory is dead on. I mean the rest of this song has, hmm… non-nu metal vibes, more screamies, Gregorian chants in the background? Clearly influences from all across the -core spectrum here. As a person who historically “doesn’t like hardcore but likes things that hung out with hardcore at recess and then wandered away,” I am not going to try too hard to categorize further here if means splitting hairs that aren’t on my own knuckles. Last thing I need is to piss off The People Who Can Label All The -Core Genres. #notmywheelhouse #Istilllikethenumetalpartbest #fightmeMica
Vacuist landed on my radar either early this year or near the end of last year when I saw Facebook posts about them looking for a new drummer. I checked out their Bandcamp and based on what I was hearing I was pissed that I couldn’t clone myself and try out. In the long run, no, I wouldn’t have been the best stylistic fit, but if committing to another full time project hadn’t been too much to even consider, I’d at least have gone and found that out in person!
LACERATIONS // STRAINS, the band’s first full-length record, will take you on a journey through an aggressive whirlwind of moods and stations. This is one for fans of The Jesus Lizard, Slint, and dynamic shifts. My favorite by far is Dendriforms, which could be an EP unto itself. Great fucking track.
This Tuesday the 16th, Vacuist will be playing O’Brien’s in Allston, MA with Boston friends BEDTIMEMAGIC who, like Vacuist, I have somehow also not seen live yet. Ridiculous. Shameful. Inconceivable. I keep using that word but I do not think it means what I think it means… I do know that you can get tickets right here. L.M.I. and Vulturespeak will be joining in, on tour together from Pennsylvania.
My two favorite things about BEDTIMEMAGIC are that 1. they’re primarily a bass and drums duo. Not a single six string in the house. Good. Those things have too many strings and there are enough of them running around as it is. 2. Bassist/vocalist Nicholas Pentabona has MATA HARI tattooed across his knuckles. I have amor fati tattooed across mine. My band has a song called Mata Hari and the chorus is “Mata Hari… Mata Hari… amor fati… Mata Hari.” Knuckle tattoo friends 4 lyf.
For real though, one of the most enjoyable parts of starting this blog has been that’s it’s nudging me just past my usual boundaries a bit and also forcing me to pay more attention, which results in me getting into more bands. That’s what I want to be doing and what I think we could all use a little more of these days when it comes to watching art morph into “content” that’s forgotten as quickly as it appears. I’m finding that bands whose vocals are super aggressive and may have been lost for me in the past, despite me digging the music itself, have become a lot more appealing and exciting for me as I’ve sat with them more. Or rather, as I’ve kicked over beer-filled trashcans with them more. That’s what the kids do, yes?
BEDTIMEMAGIC’s most recent release is The Slumber Party (Part I), which was part of Nefarious Industries’ recent compilation NEF100: Burn After Hearing. Of the track, Pentabona says, “Musically, ‘The Slumber Party (Part I)’ is a return to form for us. We eschew the complex and cerebral for piss and vinegar. The track is viciously forward, unrepentantly alive, unapologetically guttural. Lyrically, the song follows a gentle rhyme scheme delving into an inescapable feeling of being stuck. A record skips on the turntable. A feeling of guilt shrouds the room. Leave me alone.”
I’ve watched the video for this track (available on Bandcamp) a few times now and the whole package has grown on me each time. The video is just a series of split screens of the band members’ faces delivering the lyrics; dispassionately, in proportion to the recorded vocals. It’s simple but effective and I felt like it actually helped me connect to the words themselves. Neat.
Nefarious Industries are also now home to our other noisy good buddies Miracle Blood, who are currently on tour all over the damn place. These guys have evolved so much in the past five or so years and we’re so jazzed for and proud of them. Really brings a tear to your eye. Oh shit, or is that Strawberry Nesquik…
Speaking of loud music and states that are closer to Pennsylvania, Mast Year from Baltimore, Maryland have a new record out today on Grimoire Records, called Point of View. This band hit me up a while back when only one single had been released so far, Teignmouth Electron. Definitely got the message that this band would feel right at home with the crew playing this show. Do y’all know each other yet? Go exchange numbers and stuff. Play some Rummikub.
I haven’t had my full venture through this record yet but the second track that became available, Erocide, was immediately up my alley. The vocals are more in my wheelhouse than the first track (though hey like I said I’m working on opening my heart more to growltown) and I’m loving the drums all the way through. I’m looking forward to spending more time with this record over the weekend and I suggest you put it on your list. I am eager to learn if there’s a story here, having a track called Love Note immediately precede Erocide (“killing of passionate love”)… WHAT HAPPENED HERE, GUYS?
Alright, that’s what I’ve got for today. Keep it noisy. Fight the power. Power the fight.
~RMSC
UPDATE: Following the initial publication of this post, it was brought to my attention that I forgot to say that Vacuist was on my Flange Sin list. If you use flange anywhere you’re on the list. It’s nothing personal. Love the flanger, hate the flange, as the saying goes. Mica has informed me that he will be putting two flangers on his board now out of spite. Perhaps they will cancel each other out. 💅