Sunn O)))

Listen.

When it comes to classical music, or opera, or crap like that, I can understand why it is brilliant; but the vast majority of it leaves me quite cold.

However.

With sunn 0))) it's all the other way round. I realise that there is next to no musicianship, talent or songwriting. I can understand that it's nothing more than a headache-inducing drone, and that any bunch of idiots with big amps, a powerful Moog and some sturdy distortion pedals could churn this shit out.

But.

I fucking love these guys. I love the pretentiousness of the grimm robes. I love the way they play in slow motion. I love the religious amp-worship aspect of their performance. I love the over-zealous application of dry ice. I love the fact that when I play their songs through my laptop, roughly half of the noise is below the frequency range that the speakers can cope with - which means that the first seven minutes of Báthory Erzsébet (the final track from 05's Black 1) are, for the large part, completely inaudible.

But mostly, I love how the persistent doomy drone voids my brain of all rational thought and memory.

Website: http://www.southernlord.com/band_SUN.php

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

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunn_O)))

These Arms Are Snakes

Or should that be These Arms Were Snakes?

No, it shouldn't. 'Cos that's not what they're called. But the fact remains that the Seattle outfit announced their dissolution this week, and I haven't felt the loss of a band so keenly since that guy shot himself in the head a few years back.

Generally pigeon-holed as post hardcore, TAAS play a jagged brand of rock infused with equal parts sex and violence epitomised by frontman Steve Snere's onstage hip-swaying/gyrating/thrusting/strangling self with belt or mic cord.

For me, it's one of the songs off of their first EP "This Is Meant To Hurt You" that best defines their sound; "Run It Out Through The Dog" opens up with a chaotic squall of screeching guitar and vocals, but then spirals off into a post-rockish, almost space rock kind of wall of noise... or something.

Ok, so it is mostly all shrieking and guitar noise; but dammit, it's good. I feel glad I got in on the ground floor with these guys, privileged that I got to see them play live in Southampton a couple of years ago, and gutted that they didn't come anywhere near here on what turned out to be their final UK tour.

They were awesome, and you can check out some of their finest moments by clicking below.

Crazy Woman Dirty Train

Gadget Arms

Subtle Body

Website: http://thesearmsaresnakes.blogspot.com/

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

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

Nirvana

I bought myself the Live At Reading DVD a week or so ago, and it's just reminded me how great these guys were.

They didn't write the best songs, they weren't the most talented musicians, their shows weren't the most explosive or legendary (apart from the explosive and legendary ones). But I've yet to find anything that sends the same shiver down my spine as the first time I listened to Nevermind.

And yes, I do realise how horribly clichéd that sounds.

Website: nope

Myspace: nope

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_(band)

Reuben

I was initially a bit dubious about this lot. They originally hailed from near where I grew up, and it simply didn't seem possible that anything good could come from Aldershot.

So I was a bit of a late starter, which is my loss really. Whilst their contemporaries (Hundred Reasons et al) got whisked up by major labels and put out big records to critical acclaim, Reuben carried on slogging away at the toilet circuit, putting out singles on indie labels, and writing bloody good songs.

By the time they'd brought out their third (and for now final) full length, I was discovering that I'd missed out on a good few years of fantastic music. No needless complication, no showboating musicianship, no trendy haircuts... just great songs, written and played with real passion, by three guys that love music.

Website: http://www.wordsfromreuben.com/splash/uni/

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

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuben_(band)

Helms Alee

The "noise" tag seems a slightly unfair one to apply to this lot. Whilst the guttural hollering and big scuzzy riffs of frontman Ben Verellen's former outfit Harkonen are clearly in evidence, it really only tells half the story.

Because amidst the chaos there's something else altogether. Shimmering guitars, equal parts delicate and sinister, add an unexpected dimension to proceedings; as too do the occasional female vocals and meandering, almost psychedelic song structures. But instead of taking it in turns, as is so often the norm, all these different elements intertwine and meld together, and awesome noise happen.

Maybe that's the tag they deserve. Awesome noise.

Website: nope.

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

Wikipedia: nope.

Curl Up And Die

These guys are/were from Las Vegas, and the fear and loathing kind of shows through.

The first thing that strikes you about their music (and by strike, I do mean like with a blunt heavy object) is the sheer unrelenting savagery of it. And in the early days, this was arguably the only real move they had; they were just another math/metalcore band, with a sound somewhere between Botch and Converge.

Wind forward a few years, and at first it seems like little has changed; the face-peeling brutality is still very much in evidence.

But there's an added dimension to the music. Slow bits, the occasional melody. And reading the lyrics (because there's no way you can understand the vocals) reveals the misanthropy, despair, depression and isolation at the heart of everything they do. And you realise that its been there all along, hidden behind a façade of guttural screams, chainsaw riffs, and funny song titles that make you think it's all just a bit of fun.

Or maybe it is all a bit of fun, and they really are just a hardcore band from Nevada. Here's a rough-as-fuck video of one of their last performances.

Come on. We're waving the white flag.

Come on. We're calling in sick.

I don't want to be a part of anything.

That ever feels like this.

Website: http://www.revelationrecords.com/bands/show/87

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

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

Million Dead

The alternative music press was making lots of good noises about these guys a few years ago; but every time I heard something by them I was left feeling distinctly underwhelmed. Then they split up, almost certainly as a reaction to my continuing apathy.

Thanks then to James (a fellow wage-slave from The Big Gay Department Store), who encouraged me to give them another go by copying both their albums for me in exchange for a copy of the majority of the Fugazi back catalogue. I like tape-swapping, even if it is done using those shiny round disc-like tapes.

Turns out that the songs I'd heard were just a bit lame, and the rest of the time they sound more like this.

Frontman Frank Turner is now a well established and relatively successful solo folk-punk troubadour; drummer Ben Dawson plays in the mighty Palehorse (as he did whilst in Million Dead, in fact). Actually, he plays drums for a lot of bands. The other two are doing other stuff, presumably.

Website: http://www.milliondead.org/

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

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