Let me relate to you my only Red Scare related anecdote: last summer I was walking through the streets of Norwich in my Red Scare shirt. It is green, and has a picture of the hammer and sickle on it. As I walked past Norwich market, I was accosted by a scruffy looking man selling the ol’ “Socialist Worker.” He looked at my shirt, and said: “‘ere mate, you’ll be wanting one of these then what with that shirt you are wearing.” Ha ha, how I almost laughed. So I punched him in the face, trod on his pile of “Socialist Worker’s” and set fire to his unconscious body. No, wait, that was what I did to the guy selling the Big Issue. But… anyway. Fackin’ ‘ell. Put this record on for the first time and I was thinking “this is not good. it has instrumentals and stuff, what has happened to the Red Scare?” And I put it on a second time, and I thought “actually, it’s not so bad.” And thus the progression began. It got better and better, the more I listened, and now, now I am saying:
This will be one of the best records that will come out this year. (I think it came out this year anyway).
30.5 more minutes of prime screamin’ hardcore action from the ever jagged Scare here. As tightly wound a band as you’ll hear, ready to uncoil and lurch into their booty swaying emo-groove at the slightest tip of the hat, or raising of an eyebrow. “Risking Your Life With A Capital R” kicks off the LP and it has that familiar Red Scare knack of getting me swaying on my chair, compulsively. Involuntarily. It’s mid-paced, it’s Gravity-esque, it’s going to get vague comparisons to Angel Hair and Heroin, but never as often as they used to get. At the end of the song is descends into noodly, static noise, though I’m sure I hear a short burst of “Oh When The Saints Go Marching In.” I fear for my mind sometimes, I really do. “Smoky Mountain High” is much more in standing with the debut LP, blistering and aggressive, it flashes by in an instant, and “Cranial Masses” is that searing screamo style like the earlier Song of Zarathustra stuff, without the ‘horror’ edge. Track that most impressed me was “Asphyxial Collapse” which runs away out of control, with more subdued crunchy moments to abate against the tide of chaos.
There are two monumental instrumentals on the LP. Title track “strangers die everyday*” builds up with a persistent rhythm, and extra guitar sound swirling chaotically in the background. It gradually builds up, all the while maintaining the main drive of the bass and drums. Classy. And things wind to a close on the epic “Five Months In Poland,” in all 6 minutes and 45 seconds of it’s instrumental glory. Boom. I’m impressed.
So here’s to a band that split up far too early. But fear not, singer Kip is now in a band with someone from Orchid, and apparently they are just as good (surprise). So don’t be stunned if they’ve already agreed to release an LP on TMU sometime.