Review Summary: Finally, a "-core" album that lives up to it's own name.
Duck Duck Goose’s (DDG)
Noise, Noise, and More Noise is, in some ways, more straightforward than you might expect, given their notoriously loopy math-infused style of post hardcore. For one, while the album title is seemingly nonsensical and extraneous, it actually says a lot about the nature of the band: they’re a bunch of noisy guys, making some noisy tunes. Don’t, however, mistake “noisy” for “bad,” as DDG will take you on a bouncy, chaotic ride you may just enjoy.
Starting from the very beginning of “Brother John’s Revenge,” and ending at the last second of “Sgt. Slaughter,” DDG create an intense sound, packed to the brim with punchy drums, visceral screams (or something like screams) and, the most important aspect of this album, blaring and just straight-up loud guitars.
The drums, while lacking the usual flare for the flam-rolls and speedy double bass which has become a staple in most math-core albums, are still a strong base for the album. Reaching their high points in the oddly-timed introduction to “Boy Oh Boy, I Ain’t No Wiz Kid,” and the well-placed rolls in “Stow After the Bar,” they remain interesting, but never really reach out and grab your attention, as they are almost always accompanied with some form of bizarre guitar affect or shrill vocals with strange lyrics. In this manner, the drums function as an enormous canvas for the whole album, letting the guitar and bass work upon them as they wish, while the vocals ice the cake.
Speaking of vocals, they’re one of the most unique things about the band. Constantly blending a high scream with a half-whine half-sing and a little bit of talking, they take just a little bit of getting used to. Reaching a brilliant low on the groovy “Red, I Don’t Have Time for This” and ear-splitting highs on “Wiz Kid,” Noise’s various screams and shouts are anything but monotonous. The one thing that seems almost missing from the album are any form of pure clean vocals, which are encountered only in the minute-long acoustic bonus track at the end of, “The Wonderful Wizard of LSD.” The diverse vocals find their match lyrically, with bizarre passages and sing-a-long choruses which, although not completely nonsensical, don’t make much sense out of context (“That old shmuck just pressed his luck,” appearing in the closing mosh-friendly segment of “Brother John’s Revenge,” or the
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory references in “The Wonderful Wizard.”) The lyrics, however, don’t always work in favor with the album. A prime example of this being the closing breakdown to “Sgt. Slaughter,” featuring the almost painful repetition of “I’ll spray my gun on you all,” which really kills the mood set by the effect-laden heaviness.
And this brings us to the guitars—easily stealing the show in
Noise, the guitars prove to be the single most chaotic thing about this album. From the highly contrasting “Brother John’s Revenge” to the fast-paced maelstrom of “The Wonderful Wizard,” they grab your attention by the throat and shake it about until it’s no longer breathing. At times, they intentionally collide and crash into each other, while, at other times, they harmonize beautifully, creating groove-laden riffage which you can’t help but tap your foot to. All while spastically shredding and rolling into new various time signatures and crazy effects—“Sgt. Slaughter” showcasing this excellently, with an ambient delayed interlude right before launching into a breakdown to saturated with effects and “brutality” featured infrequently throughout the rest of the album.
Chaotic, insane, intense, bi-polar and heavy are all valid words to describe Duck Duck Goose’s
Noise, Noise, and More Noise. Catchy, melodic and fun are also strong words to qualify
Noise as one of the best, if not shortest math-core albums I’ve ever come across.
