So Pitted “neo”
Available: Feb. 19th via Sub Pop as a download, CD, LP and in very limited Loser-edition white vinyl.
To be upfront from the onset, this particular record isn’t going to be for everyone. I suppose that should go without saying given that we all have our own personal tastes. Likes. Dislikes. The debut full-length from the Kent, Washington, trio is heavy, loud, discordant and uses abrasive, off-tempo time signatures. This is all done quite purposefully and has even morphed into the band’s de-facto mission statement. Nathan Rodriguez expounds on this, explaining their approach “is to embrace nonlinear songwriting and avoid repeating itself. A lot of our band is a reaction to music as a whole,” says Rodriguez. “What we’re attracted to the most [is] the freedom of … doing anything that we want to do, instead of feeling forced to do it the way we should do it.”
Rodriguez, along with band members Liam Downey and Jeannine Koewler bonded over a shared love of ’90s and early oughts alternative rock such as Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and At The Drive In, along with new wave acts such as Devo and Cocteau Twins. These influences culminate in their own brand of self-described Neo Wave and are offered up here in “neo.”
Recommended if you are a fan of The Jesus Lizard, Butthole Surfers, METZ, Big Black or Scratch Acid
Jon E. Lynch[email protected]