Parts & Labor
Stay Afraid
Jagjaguwar/Brah
From the Jagjaguwar vanity label Brah, Parts & Labor are a band whose M.O. is to drench everything in distortion, mix instruments past the point of being immediately recognizable and pummel with a relentless wall of sound. This punk rock aesthetic applied to industrial music yields a result that’s more lively than any third generation Ministry knock-off and far more intimidating and sinister than much of what has come from the punk scene recently. Tracks like “Pleasant Stay” and “New Buildings” are juggernauts with their driving drum beats, thick layers of guitar noise and pixilated fire snarling from the surrounding synths. “Repair” plays out like a robotic chain gang lament with its dissonant melancholy electronic vocal line reminiscent of “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.” Surprisingly, despite all the damage done by the trio to obfuscate their music and lyrics, the melodies are there, latent and unrecognizable as they may be, just waiting for listeners with patience enough to sift them out. It’ll be a hard sell to people who equate pleasure with pleasant sounds, but folks who have a taste for rock with rougher edges should find a lot to savor on here.
Brah Records: http://www.brahrecords.com
