Originally written by Drew Ailes
Enlisting Converge’s Kurt Ballou to handle the production and recruiting former members of Orchid and Bucket Full Of Teeth, New Hampshire’sTransistor Transistor return after a series of splits and EPs with a full-length, entitled Erase All Names and Likeness. Much to the disdain of the metal community, Transistor Transistor take an emotional axe to heavy, snarling, and driving rock. Luckily for all of us, it’s done in the same style as so many other Level Plane bands – angry and angst-fueled, but kept in good taste by an indie mentality.
With destructive and full-on grungy/punk riffing, “And The Body Will Die” kicks the band into overdrive by sounding like former QOTSA member Nick Oliveri’s Mondo Generator or Drive Like Jehu throwing a hissy-fit after an anxiety attack. Steady and forceful, “Black Cat” presents an initially hostile tune that transitions into bittersweet singing and eventually shapes itself into a messy and fearsome uncertainty. The accordingly titled “Power Chord Academy” sounds exactly like that – uniform and unvarying, but stays enjoyable due to the charismatic singing/yelling and creatively careless solo. “Songsanstitle”, the following track, is a drastic change from the powerful and energetic previous track. Slower with a dreary melody, it’s one of the more brooding songs on Erase All Names and Likeness and serves an integral role in giving the album a complete feel, as opposed to just a handful of tracks thrown together.
I’m hesitant to say it, but the last half of the album seems to be running on fumes generated by the heat of the first four or five tracks. While not devoid of outstanding material, (“Empathy” being one of the more memorable and emotive arrangements on the album) a few of the later tracks don’t capture the intensity that the initial twenty minutes do and the music continues on a somewhat stark and too-familiar path. Still thick, raw, and reasonably strong, things blend together and leave the impression thatTransistor Transistor suffers from some sort of musical premature ejaculation.
I’m a sucker for this kind of music, the harsh, pissed-off, and sentimental post-rock/hardcore stuff. I don’t expect the majority of the readers of this site to get into this, but if you’re ever in a pensive mood that you just need to mull over for a while, bands like Malady and Transistor Transistor should be readily considered, as well as a slew of other bands on Level Plane.
