Review Summary: wtf powerviolence
"We need to stop the rage"
I don't think this album really could have a better title, to be honest. I mean, you don't listen to SPAZZ (they capitalize their name in most of their releases, so might as well be as elite as them and follow suit) to chill out. Their style of hardcore--powerviolence, with less of the weird movie quotes found in Charles Bronson's extended discography and not near as heavy or as invigorating as bands like Iron Lung--is straight-up determined to get you moving and moshing. Like most powerviolence, every song here speeds by at a hundred miles per hour, and the songs are set on cruise control throughout
Crush Kill Destroy, not really giving a fu
ck who exactly they crush, kill, or destroy in the process. No song here is longer than a minute and a half and they, unsurprisingly for most powerviolence albums, all pretty much sound the same. So what makes SPAZZ stand out from others in the genre?
Not much, really. In fact, as far as powerviolence bands go, you're probably better off getting albums by bands such as the previously mentioned Iron Lung and Charles Bronson, as well as Infest. Name-dropping aside, SPAZZ still creates some pretty solid hardcore punk, even though they aren't quite as excellent as the brass of their genre. They have a good thing going vocally--all three members of the band contribute vocals, and they all have pretty distinctive styles, with one member screaming more straight-forward highs while another contrasts with lower screaming that sounds as if a pig was dying, only in the best way possible. They also have a pretty good thing going instrumentally, as this Califonian trio all have a pretty good mastery of their instruments. Standing out among the three is bassist Chris Dodge, who provides the perfect low end for Dan Bolleri's simplistic but heavy guitar playing, and isn't that bad of a player either.
Crush Kill Destroy is also more pissed off and angry than other SPAZZ releases, and is more interesting than the band's other work because of this. All three vocalists sound as if they just had the worst day ever, and the album's mood reflects the anger behind the vocals, giving it a frustrated and loose feel. It's the perfect listen if you want to escape the restraints of everyday life and just mosh around for a while.
Repetitiveness is an issue, however. It's to be expected, but when the first twelve tracks seriously sound the same and trying to find a singular track out of the pack is straight up impossible, it becomes a bit much. The first half of
Crush Kill Destroy is a perfect example of too much of a mostly good thing, which is why the second half of this is so obviously superior. "Now 50 Percent More Pants Shi
tting", despite having possibly the greatest fu
cking name of all time, diversifies itself from the pack by slowing the fu
ck down, relying on a ironically catchy industrial beat for the first half of the track, before, yes, going back to their normal sound of extremely fast hardcore and swapping angry vocals. However, just because of that one sort of "interlude", the rest of the album seems fresh again. Maybe that's because the better songs are near the bottom of the album, chief of which being "Jeb For Ruler of the (Formerly) Free World", which begins with Dodge's catchiest bass riff, speeds up to thirty seconds of crazed hardcore, and then slows down to a more crunchy and even doom-y part, almost like a reference to bands like Grief and Dystopia. The song speeds up again and ends on an angry note, which is the best note to end on in an album like this. The track lasts just over a minute, but it's the most progressive and easily the best thing SPAZZ has ever done.
This whole album, in fact, is the best thing SPAZZ has ever done, or ever did, as they disbanded after its release.
Crush Kill Destroy is a rage-filled pleasure, and really the only thing you'd ever need to worry yourself with from this band, and SPAZZ's giddy and simple love for anything angry makes this album seem like one of the more enjoyable tantrums you'll ever hear. But the simple anger found here gets a bit too simple, and the fact that this barely diversifies brings down a little. Good if you want to feel like you punched a wall, but if you're too much of a skinny underfed wimp to actually punch the damn thing.
Also, the sample before “Sword of the Lord” made me laugh pretty hard.
