If I'm going to be totally honest with you, I didn't think I was going to like this band when they first got in touch with me. Being so finicky about certain things I'm sort of weird sometimes, so I can be very pre-judgmental of bands based on various non-musical attributes—for example a band name that I'm not wild about or, say, a website that looks like it was designed in 1997. Unfair, I know, but let's face it: People behave this way all the time, it's not like I'm the only one. If nothing else, thankfully I don't let those types of initial assumptions solidify my opinions, because once you actually hear these guys' music you're just kind of like, "Huh, okay, yeah... I can dig this."
The funny thing is, I really didn't think that bands like this existed anymore. Music Hates You hails from Athens, GA and "Send More Paramedics" is their self-released debut album—which reminds me of a style that kind of rose in the mid-90's in the wake of grunge and Helmet. Like Stompbox, for example, who I've covered in the past. They seem to take that kind of a general vibe and get a little more unhinged with the vocals while tossing a dirtier kind of rock 'n' roll energy into the mix to give the tunes more kick. They're probably not going for anything in particular, this is likely just the sound that comes out when these cats plug in and get down to business, but whatever the case I like what I'm hearing.
There's a great fucking recording on this thing, there's simply no denying that. The impeccable distorted bass tone perfectly fills out the mix between well-rounded and natural percussion and a warm, gritty guitar distortion that's plenty thick in its own right. While a minuscule element of the vocal performance can get a little irritating and screechy, for the most part the dude's got an awesome style that's a perfect blend of singing and yelling with just the kind of gruff texture that the overall attitude of this material demands—fitting into place regardless of whether the band's doling out a pulsing midpaced rhythm, a faster and more frenzied back and forth attack of staccato textures, or perhaps even a slightly more spacious and melodic passage. Not bad at all.
Music Hates You "How Do I Get Him the Fuck Out of My Living Room?"
Music Hates You "Fingerprints for Every Man, Woman, and Child"
There's actually a song on this thing called "Rock and Roll Ape Sex and Hell", and that might say a lot more than it seems, so throw these guys $10 for a CD if you dig the tunes so they can buy a couple of beers and keep on truckin':
Comments
Music Hates You is awesome.
6.7.2006 | By Anonymous
Aww, I thought this was going to be about Send More Paramedics.
6.8.2006 | By Gabriel
GODAMN IT! I can’t help but think how much this dude sounds like the singer of Faith No More except fifteen million times more grittier (if thats a word?) but goddammit I fuckin love Fingerprints!
6.9.2006 | By Adrianoso
These guys are friends of mine and I’ve gotta let all of you know…If you think the music sounds great on the cd, you should see them live! I’ve been to several of they’re shows, and they even do house parties, and I must say their performance is excellant. You can literally feel the energy these guys have for their music. You can tell they are all very passionate about their work and it shows. If you live in the Athens area, you should DEFINATELY check these guys out live. THEY ROCK!
7.6.2006 | By Angela