Hunchback
Pray For Scars
Some bands just make music, others create art. Whether either endeavor is successful or not I suppose depends on the listener, but myself having listened to ass upon ass upon assloads of albums, I can tell you there’s a lot of rock bands that make great music but suck at executing it as an art form, and there’s a lot of artists who make interesting pieces of audio-art but ultimately fail at making enjoyable music. Follow?
When Hunchback first melted my face off in some dude’s basement a few years ago I knew I was listening to something special. Spirits of loud, screamy, writhing noise from musical genres across the map channeled themselves through four punks from New jersey. It was creepy and weird, but not once did I feel uncomfortable. It was horror-surf-punk with a helping of Mudhoney and a heaping of Killdozer, but not once did I think it was as trite or as tacky as it now sounds on paper. The sound, content, and delivery of Pray For Scars offers a real, honest exploration into morbidity. Hunchback create an atmosphere that backs up the music – you don’t just hear it, you feel it.
The album overall doesn’t fit particularly well into any one peg hole, so while the eight-plus minute album opener “The Bells, The Bells” isn’t a proper introduction, it is indicative of the Hunchback “sound/art.” The bass rumbles, the synth alternates between old horror movie “dun dun dunnn!” riffs and being just plain eerie, the layers of guitar fuzz envelop you like fog, and possibly most impressive of all – the vocals sound like Mike Hunchback went into a cave, stuck his head in a garbage can, and sang into a mic covered with insects – and it works! I’m telling you it fucking works, man! Unbelievable!
“All That Fear Allows” puts you firmly amidst the chaos in fine fashion – some kind of bizzaro carnival music intro, manic singing, tempo shifts, and then pulling back, pulling the listener in… is he talking about blood dripping? Then the sledgehammer drops and the bell screams and the dreadful, joyful noise erupts once again. The title track is a full force bash and the “The Doctor” is a like a hardcore song, but twisted and turned by an angular post-punk guitar line, and then further demented by some sick sick lyrics.
The A-side ends with Miranda Hunchback bringing in some cool indie femme pop/rock and the B-side begins with this album’s creep-out sing-along, “A Year And Day.” This unique event first occurred on Hunchback’s previous album with the track “Last Man On Earth.” It’s all so very desolate and apocalyptic, but all the while so very damn catchy you can’t help but chime in on the chorus.
“The Ugliest Angel” brings in the acoustic guitars, but the sound is no less cavernous and the layers of echoes and whispers no less intriguing. “You Have A Light” can swim in Sonic Youth territory for lack of a better place to float, and the guitar work is odd and ear captivating enough to almost forgive the drowned vocals. “Worse Houses” fucks things up a notch, and since we’re near the end of the album, you better believe it’s a free-for-all of multi-screams, heaps of guitar scuzz, and a blanket of synth churning underneath a gut-upsetting story. The album closes with a cover of Linda Perry’s “Beautiful” featuring guest vocals by Killdozer’s Michael Gerald and some other weirdos. I’m debating whether or not to indulge in a digression of whether or not the inclusion of this song is meant to be ironic, post-ironic, or even pre-ironic, but in the end I’m just giving up. My tour through the catacombs was dark, enlightening, and altogether draining. I’ll probably spin this tomorrow though.
more linkage:
Hunchback on Myspace
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