Noise for Zeros

Duma LP
Nyege Nyege Tapes, 2020

There’s grindcore in Kenya? My ignorance of that fact, which honestly shouldn’t be all that terribly surprising given the reach of extreme metal throughout the world, admittedly piqued my interest in this group. The stunningly brilliant cover image definitely set up some pre-conceived expectations of gnarly metallic hyper chug and gore-centric themes, standard fare for the grindcore genre, but I’m thrilled to report that this not only blasts itself well outside any genre constraints, it’s easily one of the most original forays into extreme music these tinnitus-tainted ears have heard in a long time. This guitar-free grind is rooted in dense, polyrhythmic percussive blasts peppered by washes of noise that make this monster feel more like something from your record store’s industrial/experimental/noise section than the metal bins. In fact, other than the pulse-shredding percussive blasts, the only other recognizable hallmark of grindcore here are visceral vocal growls and wails, which thankfully veer well past cartoonish into crazed. Take some harsh power electronics, mash it up with chopped up gabber beats and bits of William Bennet’s post-Whitehouse project Cut Hands and you’ve got something nearly as terrifying as this monster.

Murder Inc. LP
Invisible, 1992

Whenever the need to hear Killing Joke‘s first four albums strikes — and it strikes me often — I find myself digging up this self-titled 1992 album by Murder Inc. to extend the jams. It delivers heaps of the swirling, beat-heavy apocalyptic vibe that Killing Joke made famous. Murder Inc. is able to do this since it’s pretty much Killing Joke with a different singer, Chris Connolly, a ’90s industrial darling who put out a number of solo records and appeared on a shit-ton of records for bands like Pigface, Revolting Cocks, Ministry and others. While not as essential as the early KJ discs, it is interesting to hear the core KJ sound augmented with cool, slightly less melodramatic vocals. In fact, despite what some say, this record is probably more melodic than the majority of of Killing Joke’s output, adding a musicality to the vocals which were typically shouted, oppressive anthems. Compare “Mania” and “Gambit” to the more KJ-sounding track “Red Black” and you’ll see what I mean. You can find CD versions of this fine record (if you can stand the goofy cover art) fairly easily, since it was re-issued on the Futurist label in 1993 with a different track order and an additional song.

DOWNLOAD:

Murder Inc. – “Last of the Urgents”
Murder Inc. – “Red Black”
Murder Inc. – “Mania”
Murder Inc. – “Gambit“

Who’s Sorry Now? LP
Flipside Records, 1995

Back in 1995 when about 85% of the music released on punk labels was Buzzcocks or Green Day-inspired pop-punk, Flipside magazine’s record label released a second helping of Babyland’s electrojunk punk, which promptly ended up in cutout bins by the dozens. It’s a damn shame too, because what Babyland brought to the turntable was co-opted in the later ’90s by a punk scene that shifted away from the safe confines of pop-punk to the wild possibilities of Screamers and Suicide-inspired synthpunk of the later nineties in bands like Subtonix, The Vanishing, Replikants, ADULT, Black Ice, Sixteens, The Lack, and the whole Digital Hardcore scene that came to light with the popularity of Atari Teenage Riot — not to mention the overall acceptance of synth elements in punk with early 2000s groups like xbxrx, Lost Sounds, Digital Leather, Phantom Limbs, etc. I think a lot of punks were wary of Babyland’s big drumbeats almost sounded like techno, which was justifiably loathed at the time. But digging deeper, Babyland supported those huge beats with a scrappy and abrasive barrage of samples and textures, paring the experimental clang of Einstürzende Neubauten with the manic percussive fits of Crash Worship. While Babyland’s later releases smoothed the edges into more of an industrial-style punk, and their grating, but excellent debut LP You Suck Crap is heavier on the 8-bit bleeps, Who’s Sorry Now? has a full, seductive sound with a darkwave edge that has made it an unsung winner in my book.

DOWNLOAD:

Babyland – “Slow News Day”
Babyland – “Form 95B”
Babyland – “Cancer Beat”

LINK:

Babyland website