The Locust
Plague Soundscapes
I couldn't think of a title for this section of Grindcore for Beginners, so I just went with my first reaction to the frenetic grindfuckery of The Locust. Like Captain Beefheart jamming with Agoraphobic Nosebleed, or The Dillinger Escape Plan before they got boring, this California-based four-peice has included two former members of Cattle Decapitation. They're well-known for wearing strange costumes, only playing all-ages shows and being completely batshit insane. Their brand of noisy, conspicuously technical Dadaist grind, replete with neck-snapping tempo changes and oblique lyrics, has made them more enemies than fans - odd, seeing as their detractors are often the same people who will be tripping over themselves to lap up every pretentious note that Melt Banana shit out. Their music is unbelievably complex, but never wanky, and probably about as weird as it gets.
The Locust exemplify the fun-loving insanity of punk and grindcore - an aspect people often forget. Remember, Napalm Death used to fall about laughing in their early rehearsals, and for every Dropdead there's a Cogs and Sprockets.
What's also interesting is how they exemplify the tendency towards high levels of technicality in grindcore. This tendency may be down to the influence of metal on the genre, or it may simply be due to the fact that it takes considerable chops to play grind - punk and hardcore prided themselves on their simplicity, but the sheer speed of grindcore means that even the simplest riff will take a lot of practice. Whatever the cause, there have always been grind bands whose technical wizradry is a vital part of their music, and most of them tend to be pretty dull. The Locust, however, are the exception. They may fit more riffs into one song than most bands have on an entire album, but they never forget that the technique must serve the song, not the other way around.
Anyway - have a listen.
No comments:
Post a Comment