Review Summary: LA-bred noise rock band blends a multitude of influences in a compact package.
HEALTH will probably never
not get compared to other bands. It’s a shame too. The sound on their eponymous debut full length falls somewhere between the realms of a more “organic” noise rock and the kind that bands like Black Dice release, full of grating samples, synthesized ambience and drum machine arrhythmias. It’s kind of like Sonic Youth’s ‘Bad Moon Rising’ through an electronic filter. The album is full of the same kind of ‘tribal’ tom-tom rhythms that Bob Bert (as well as a host of others, I guess) used to employ, while the guitar sound, though far more raucous here than anything on that particular album, certainly owes its debt to Sonic Youth. It’s the droning, processed vocals, ghostly synthesizers, industrial drum loops and the overall feel of the production (which is very tight and very cold, far from the loose, spacious feel one gets from an album like Bad Moon Rising) however, that makes HEALTH seem far more robotic as compared to their more obviously “human” influences.
So, it’s the fact that the band blends so many other band’s styles, not to mention the fact that they come from such a tight (and I mean that literally) scene, that will forever have reviewers dropping names (as I just did a few times.) However, if this makes HEALTH an inferior act, then if should also be mentioned that the band is a ***ing machine on this album. Seriously.
On Triceratops, guitarist Jake Duzsik moans “Are you broken? Are you bleeding? Is your blood red? Are you breathing?” over high-hat patterns and electronic pings, before the song, slips into a harsh, noisy sort of electronic chaos. BJ Miller’s drumming is ferocious, on both this track as well as those deeper into the record, and with the help of guitarist/auxiliary drummer Jupiter Keyes, Miller is permitted to go nuts (which he does, quite often.) The percussion alone on the original version of Crimewave is reason enough to wonder why Crystal Castles’ remix is what’s been getting the band so much attention. Duzsik’s pretty, sedated vocals (which Crystal Castles had the decency to leave intact, for the most part) now play over a backdrop of guitar dissonance, which helps build the song into its heavily percussive bridge, which is essentially a storm of electronically-altered human screaming, floor tom pounding and excessive guitar noise. It’s still one of the poppiest things on the album, however, with the collection of songs following proving to be even more challenging and abrasive than what preceded it.
Other highlights include Perfect Skin, which can only be described as a truly epic song. It’s easily one of the most intense on the album, if second to cathartic album closer Lost Time. Skin is far more sentimental-sounding than anything else on the album, with Duzsik singing longingly between massive claps of noise, and the music remaining linear, rather than falling into a jumble of clamoring drums and guitar. Lost Time helps to further reinforce the idea that HEALTH want to end their album on a more reserved note; it’s nothing but clean, clear vocals and a drum set. The song showcases a more stripped down sound, but still manages to stimulate the listener. Sure, it doesn’t sound much like the chaotic squall of Zoothorns or of Girl Attorney, but it’s easy to hear they were made by the same hand. Everything on this album sounds cohesive and, more importantly, important. What HEALTH have succeeded in doing here is making an album, instead of (as it is so often described) a collection of songs, and it’s a good one at that.
- Joe
