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Clowns Bad Blood Poison City Records 20 February 2015 Review by Luke Stefanac |
Clowns, the scuzz-punks from Melbourne, have just released their sophomore album ‘Bad Blood’, crafted in the suburbs alongside a bakery, cemetery, and a cattery. The result of such surroundings is an unapologetic sonic onslaught bursting with monstrous guitars, thundering drums and searing vocals, all of which showcase their DIY ethic and approach. The album doesn’t wait for you to test the waters, instead pulling you straight in with songs like Euthanise Me, which bottles up Clowns’ unbridled energy. Charged with Stevie’s opening statement “I’ve got this sickening feeling”, the track bares its teeth as the rest of the band all converge to deliver punishing riffs and frantic drumming that will have you bouncing off the walls. The first reprieve on the album comes halfway through with Bad Blood, a lumbering instrumental that flows into the next song, These Veins. As the first hit in a two punch combo, the title track demonstrates a cohesiveness that allows the whole album to live and breathe, quite unlike the short, sharp jabs of their debut effort. The sparsity of the track quickly shifts as the guitars and drums continually escalate and push each other on to a boiling point that raises the platform for the second act. These Veins is the knockout punch, a blistering anthem that treads the line before abandoning all restraint and exploding. While demonstrating this newfound ability to jam songs out, the album is still peppered with tracks like Dead In The Suburbs and It Stops With You, which hover around the minute mark. These concise songs are absolutely relentless in their delivery, hitting fast and hard without filler. The urgency that comes through just screams for everybody to thrash about in unison. Clowns have managed to bottle their live intensity to create a monster of a record. These guys are definitely not to be confused with their cheery circus counterparts. Originally written for City And Sound. |