White Mice – Ganjahovahdose LP (20 Buck Spin)
2009 was a good year for bad vibes. The tail end of the Not Not Fun noise explosion has been fusing to the remnants of the DIY hardcore scene, which is still collecting itself from the thrash crash. Put together, it has produced a lot of ugly records. It’s a shame that Providence’s White Mice seem to exist separate from those borders, because their fifth album Ganjahovahdose is a blistering maximalist assault that would bum out anybody looking for a modern hardcore Whitehouse fix. So much about this band trips my musical prejudice red flags: they wear giant mouse masks, have industrial elements, and traffic in squealing noise boxes, but I don’t give a fuck, since it all works so well. Through the pulsing filth, the drums and bass bludgeon structure into all the songs, bludgeon being the operative term. Phallusturd’s drumming is a relentless, tom-heavy anchor, like a nastier, discombobulated version of Des Kensel (High on Fire). For all the distortion and racket, sounds remain distinct, never getting bogged down in pure sludge, a testament to both good working knowledge of their squelch boxes and solid production by that guy from Skinny Puppy. The electronic noise and squealing rise and fall like a wave, and the vocals are drenched in distortion, trailing off into digital noise, turning the songs into hideous chants. The ideas are filled out in pidgin English (mouse-ese?) inside the big booklet, a scatological religious manifesto called The Crotchtower, including their own Chick Tract for cheese worshiping sinners. (http://www.20buckspin.com)
(Killedbyjeff)
