Review Summary: The Louisville Sluggers bring out their whoopin' sticks on this one
Sometimes, I have a hard time pushing myself to listen to an album. I definitely chalk it up to my age; I was born in 1997, so I can hardly recall a time when listening to an album meant you had to spend $15 on a CD without knowing if you'd like it or not. Suffice to say, the digital age affords us some luxuries; we can consume media in short bursts, and we don't need to break the bank to see what awaits. So, when I saw that hardcore punk titans Knocked Loose dropped their third studio album
You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To, I didn't jump at it and I don't know why. I'd seen some glowing reviews on release, but when Spotify included a track from the album on their 'best of 2024 so far' list, I knew the strong word of mouth was too much to ignore. Finally, I sat down, cranked up the volume, and braced for impact.
The Louisville natives accordingly brought out their Sluggers on this one.
You Won't Go... is a visceral, dizzying and unabashed half-hour romp. Every chord hits like a sledgehammer, with no chance to really grasp for air or recalibrate. It's despondent, cynical and jaded. While it's bit truncated at just twenty-seven-and-a-half minutes, the band rips and roars with every last moment that's available. From the opening moments of "Thirst", the whole enterprise immediately flies off the rails. Bryan Garris' vocals can be a bit bratty at times, and they're not everyone's cup of tea, but I like what he brings here. You can sense the turmoil and desperation in his delivery. "I can't hide from the truth," he emphatically proclaims on "Piece by Piece."
While each song here is pretty thematically tethered to one another, there aren't many memorable moments to single out, save for the cool guest features. "Suffocate," one of the best tracks here, features art pop singer Poppy, and her unclean vocals are better than I think I was expecting them to be. She conjures quaint reminders of Spiritbox's Courtney LaPlante, and does her part to elevate the intensity of this cut. "Slaughterhouse 2," meanwhile, serves up a cameo from Motionless in White's Chris Cerulli, and acts as a sequel to that band's 2022 song of the same name. The addition of Chris is another welcome surprise; it's nice to see him tackle a composition that's a bit different than the usual brand of industrial and gothic metalcore than Motionless is known for. Issac Hale's catchy riffs add some cool variety to this one as well.
"Don't Reach For Me", one of the longer cuts, is another assault on the senses, but it also boasts a subtle zeal and zest in the songwriting. "I dream of a cleansing wave," Garris pleads, as if he seeks some kind of
rebirth, spiritual or otherwise. The brief noodling on "Moss Covers All" leads into the main hook of the raucous "Take Me Home." Building up to arguably the filthiest breakdown on the entire album, Bryan is at his most bitter; "I thought I could run. I'm not as strong as I thought I was," he laments. Elsewhere, closer "Sit & Mourn" is the sole elongated moment here. Gliding in on eerie ambiance before diving into a flurry of chunky riffs and Pacsun's frenetic drumming, Bryan approaches the topic of suicide. While it's no doubt in step with the rest of the album's sense of despair, there's actually a glimmer of sunlight that manages to creep through:
I will break your fall
I will shield you from disdain
I will get us both home
I will do whatever it takes
As the track continues, Bryan continues to promise the unnamed companion in the lyrics that he will help to support and guide them; "I will carry you through fire. Loss we share means swallowing pain," he muses. Though he's still fatigued emotionally himself, he's not detached. It seems that he still knows we always have a choice to keep pressing on at the end of the day, and he extends that same respite of hope to the listener. There isn't much of this positivity to go around, but it's a great way to end a great album.
You Won't Go... is not a game changer. Knocked Loose are not reinventing the wheel with this one. What they are doing though, in the face of hype, pressure and mainstream attention, is bucking and defying trends to craft a palpable and high-octane experience. It's a brilliant kind of chaos that these guys are so God damn good at. It takes a lot of balls, too, to stare down expectations and flip everyone the bird. Even if it had no place to squeeze itself into within the mainstream, it still wouldn't be an inaccessible album by any means. It's vulnerable, it's human, and it's concrete. Knocked Loose live up to their name; you'll be dazed and disoriented in the best way when this awesome beast of a thing is done. Thanks for the killer jams, boys.
