Friday, May 31, 2019

Scuzz - Songs of the Sordid (2016)


Victim to the Albany curse of putting out a ripping LP and then almost immediately splitting up, Scuzz was one of my favorite bands to see and to play alongside. Sharing a member with them (Dan, who was on bass here instead) and being buddies with these weirdos made doing a few weekend tours and an 8 day midwest/east coast tour with them a no brainer, and things sure got strange. From witnessing the total destruction of a NYC apartment, to watching a pediatric nurse do unsavory things to some ne'er-do-wells, to playing essentially in a laundry room in Baltimore, we have sure shared some of my more memorable gigs in Neutron Rats with them.


Always dug Allen's riff prowess in his previous bands, but this is noticeably an evolution from his days playing in Cancer. Not to say it sounds similar though, this is its own entity entirely mixing the Cleveland influenced Albany hardcore with some UK82 midtempo bouncy riffs, all with Cannonball's pissed off vocal delivery at the forefront. This LP is a masterpiece front to back, and it's a damn shame that it is the only thing on wax aside from a split 7" with Male Patterns. They did have a pretty extensive catalog of demos before this, but this really outshines them all. 13 songs including a cover of the Mad's "I Hate Music" make this one not to miss.


Tracklist:
  1. Short Life
  2. Braindead
  3. Falling Down
  4. Trade Hands
  5. Butcher
  6. Cut Down
  7. Space Creep
  8. Commit to Quit
  9. Death Machine
  10. Don't Feel the Reverb
  11. Generation
  12. I Hate Music
  13. Trash (Scumbag)

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