Review Summary: If you are looking for something to incite some hate-fueled moshing, check this out immediately.
Weekend Nachos are a hardcore/power-violence band from Dekalb, Illinois. In the beginning of their career, they played straightforward power-violence with blast beats, raw production, and doomy breakdowns. Now, in 2013, they have evolved their style to cleaner production, less blast beats and more frequent breakdowns. Despite this change, I consider
Still to be one of the best hardcore records of 2013.
The band takes no prisoners on
Still, leading listeners immediately into the chaos with "Sickened No More", a punishing song about suicide being the only escape from the disgusting horrors of reality. This is a common theme throughout the album: pure disdain. Even in "Late Night Walks" where vocalist John talks about midnight strolls through city streets, he also mentions that he "doesn't give a f**k what happens to [him]." The lyrics are not particularly impressive--Weekend Nachos catalogue has never been the most poetic--but they suit the crushing hardcore style perfectly. In the song "You're Not Punk", the band talks about uptight punk kids coming to their shows just to hate on them--anyone who has been to a hardcore show has experienced this. John doesn't necessarily summon the E.E. Cummings inside him with lines like: "Live for others/I live for my myself/Been doing it longer/You'll die like the rest", but it helps us support the rage within these simplified terms.
Weekend Nachos have developed their style for about ten years now and Still shows the band at the most tightest in terms of songwriting. The album closer and title track, "Still", is probably the strongest song on the album. It is also the longest track, clocking in at almost four minutes, with most songs barely passing the one-and-a-half minute mark. "Still" is probably the least power-violent song with hardly any fastcore influence and it is for the better. The d-beat drums, the sludgy riffs and menacing vocals provide a rapid, head-bobbing rhythm that I can see myself driving along a cold desert highway to. Also, the second longest song on the album, "Watch You Suffer"--which was previously featured on a 7-inch in 2012--is particularly awesome for its structure. The first half of the song runs at a fast pace with the simple chorus: "Watch you suffer/I can’t just watch you suffer", while the second half is basically an extended, doom-influenced breakdown. It hits hard and induces some slow, heavy head-banging.
Weekend Nachos'
Still is not a complicated album, and it is not meant to be. So if you are looking for something to incite some hate-fueled moshing, check this out immediately. Though some may say this album is a step down for Weekend Nachos, I believe this is a stepping stone to greater heights for this tasty hardcore group.
