Review Summary: An outstanding debut from the masters of noise
Unsane are a harsh, violent, noise rock band fron the deepest pits of the lower east side of New York. They formed in 1988 under the oniker of lawn chair blisters before changing their name and they put out a few singles. This however was their first focused full length album.
unsane at this point consisted of
Chris Spencer-vocals/guitar
Pete Shore-bass
Charlie ondras(R.I.P)-drums
The music was loud and violent. Unsane covered their records in amounts of distortion. the vocals consist of loud angry shouts with not very clear lyrics yet some of them can be heard. Oh yeah, the lyrics normally consist of depressing and/or violent themes. For instance, on the song Vandal-x chris yells with all his might
"shut up, f**k you, im just a piece of s**t like you"
The guitar playing is interesting because chris plays a blues rock-hardcore punk hybrid style that, while covered in layers of distortion, is still audible and some improvised bluesy solos can be found as well as catchy punk riffs. The odd thing is, is that Spencer plays it all on a fender telecaster which is normally meant for country music. You can even detect hints of twang in there. One riff i found to be really solid is the blues explosion-esque riff in "Action Man".
The bass, done by Pete Shore, is very loud and rhythmic. It acts kind of like a second guitar and it only provides to make the music heavier. He keeps a well thought groove that compliments the guitars nicely.
Now Charlie Ondras is one of the most insane noise rock drummers out there. He plays a very tribal style reminiscent of sepultura circa chaos A.D.-era. His playing is so hard-hitting yet aggressive but he manages to keep his place and provide the perfect drum rhythms.
My only problem with the album is the very bland song "white hand". I dislike this single song because it drags on and goes nowhere. Thankfully it's the last track on the album and you get all the good stuff beforehand. This album as a whole is worth the listening experience for anyone interested in hearing an awesome, underrated band or if they just want to check out the nyc noise scene. The songs are good, hard and catchy and everything is in place.
Favorite tracks:
Action Man
Vandal-x
Hll
Slag
Bad Tracks:
white hand
