2023-05-24 07:00:14
(c) Steve Gullick
Andy Cairns must have bumblebees up his ass. In addition to a new record with Therapy? he starts a completely different project almost at the same time. He presents alongside current and former members of Squarepusher, Petbrick, Goldie and Three Trapped Tigers JAW, who have an audible soft spot for metallic industrial sounds of the 90s. Ministry and Godflesh say hello when the debut „Supercluster“ spreads its menacing, ominous wings.
“Reality Crash” has the manic alienation in the title and spreads it out over five tough, crushing minutes. The sustained tempo in the middle of the noisy industrial chaos is good, the vocals propagate the sinking of the sense of reality, and the drums march stoically ahead. The fact that “Red” is an incredibly mean, tough and completely crazy hateful thing of the noisy kind that follows directly followingwards fits into the picture. JAAW like to get over-the-top, pushing boundaries and torpedoing the ear canals in the process – see and hear “Thoughts And Prayers (Mean Nothing)”, the frontal, even slightly punctuated, opener of choice malice.
Occasionally, playing with limits is expressed in overlength. “Bring Home The Motherlode, Barry” hits the nine minute mark and takes accordingly to get going. In fact, this works wonderfully, because the tough, ponderous discharges with multiple noise clusters come out well. Whether the outro should have been that long is of course an open question, but it fits the genre. At the end JAAW serve a surprising cover version. “Army Of Me” by Björk suits the quartet’s sound perfectly, biting and yet somehow catchy, a manifesto of raw madness.
Yes, you have to work your way through this tough hussar ride, but it’s definitely worth it. JAAW manage to let the respective musical DNA of the participants shine through without letting it gain the upper hand, and also get the classic industrial sound to the point. “Supercluster” might easily come from the 90s for long stretches, but it doesn’t sound antiquated by any means. Rough noise approaches and destructive loops crown a wonderfully broken and yet so entertaining record. It hardly gets more fucked up.
Rating: 8/10
Available from: 05/26/2023
Available via: Svart Records (Membrane)
Bandcamp: jaawband.bandcamp.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/jaawband
Category: Magazin, Reviews
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#JAAW #Supercluster