This Will Destroy You

Ah, post rock. That wonderful middle ground where the indie kids and the metal kids all just get along.

The indie kids like the quiet, whimsical bits with twinkling melodies where you get to sway about and look at your shoes; the metal kids like the noisy, apocalyptic bits where the entire world is destroyed by guitar feedback.

The greatest failing of most post rock outfits is the predictability of it all; the tried and tested formula of quiet-loud-quiet-very loud-quiet-earth shatteringly loud (with an optional extra quiet and/or loud at either or both ends) is all too common.

And to be fair, This Will Destroy You don't do anything especially groundbreaking.

But what they do, they do really fucking well. Behold.

It's like post rock plus 10. The quiet bits are quieter, the loud bits are louder, it's all more melancholy and more euphoric and more humbling all at once...

And as with all bands of this ilk, This Will Destroy You are about a million times better when you see them live. So if you get the chance, go see them. Or I will destroy you.

Website: http://www.magicbulletrecords.com/bands/thiswilldestroyyou.html

Myspace: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Will_Destroy_You

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Will_Destroy_You

Dälek

The legendary Chuck D once asked, "What's rap got to do with what you got?"

Good question. How did rap ever come to be such a terrible parody of itself? When did it stop being about fighting the power and smashing the system and all that, and start being all about bling and bitches and suchlike?

In truth it seems most likely that rap is simply misrepresented by the tawdry pap that infests the music channels and, therefore, the charts. There's still stuff out there for folk that aren't into drive-bys, and misogyny, and drive-by misogyny.

Dälek clearly value their integrity over mere wealth and fame; otherwise they wouldn't produce such a gloriously unfashionable dirge. Dirty, heavy beats punctuating dense walls of industrial droning noise. It's awesome.

Website: http://www.deadverse.com/

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/dalek

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dälek

Thom Yorke

To be honest, if you're the sort of person that doesn't think Radiohead have done anything worthwhile since The Bends, then there's probably not much for you here.

But you know what? Pablo Honey was mostly a bit crap, and for me Radiohead only got really good when they stopped moping about and got weird.

Of course, this isn't Radiohead - it's wibbly-eyed frontman Thom Yorke's solo project from a few years back - but the comparisons are justified, I think.







Website: http://www.theeraser.net/Stage2UK/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thomyorkemusic
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thom_Yorke

Every Time I Die

When I first heard these guys (once more courtesy of a rocksound cover CD), they were kind of a frantic hardcore band, in the vein of Botch or early Dillinger Escape Plan. Behold! The Logic of Crocodiles, from first album "Last Night in Town".



The sound evolved a little more for their second effort, "Hot Damn!", getting harder and more groovy, and sounding slightly less like a rock band falling down twelve flights of stairs. Here's timeless classic and live favourite Floater.



Since then they've become even groovier, and dare I say it... fun. And why the fuck not? The hardcore now has a thick and throbbing southern rock vein running through it. Nice.



Their fifth full length "New Junk Aesthetic" has been out for a few weeks now. Go and buy it.

Then buy everything else they've ever done.

And see them live.

'Cos they're awesome.

Website: doesn't work
Myspace: www.myspace.com/everytimeidie
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_Time_I_Die

Part Chimp

Well, technically they're last week's best band in the world ever. But they're too good to pass over, so they get an extended stay of a few days or so.


I first heard of these guys back in early 2003, when the song Hitlers and Jews, from their debut album "Chart Pimp", was featured on a Rocksound magazine cover CD. At this point I was still well into the face-peeling metal stuff that I should have grown out of long before, and didn't quite know what to make of it. It was all a bit jangly, there was no throat-shredding vocals... I was pretty sure that I didn't like it, yet I couldn't stop listening to it. It was shambolic, and raw, and it sounded impossibly loud regardless of how quietly I played it.

These were all good things.

But inevitably, with time I forgot all about them. That is, until a few weeks ago, when they played The Croft as part of the tour supporting their recently released third album, "Thriller".

And damn, they were good. Here's footage of them playing a completely different gig in a completely different place at a completely different time.



You get the idea though, right? Still shambolic, still raw, still impossibly loud. This particular song (Dark Horse, I think) neatly displays the Chimp indulging in their more scuzzy, doomy side; like Electric Wizard took a gap year and all got jobs in garage rock bands. Ones that don't suck.

It's not all slow trudging riffs o' death, mind. Check this out.



It all sounds as though it could fall apart at any moment... but the noise, the sheer volume is so dense that it all somehow holds together.

Gloriously chaotic.

Website: http://www.partchimp.com/
Myspace:http://www.myspace.com/partchimp
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Part_Chimp