new wave

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When it comes to a Deafheaven show, there a few things you can be absolutely sure of. For one, they are going to bring a dope — if not curious — collection of artists on the road with them. Secondly, their performance will exhaust all your energy, regardless of your positioning in the crowd. And finally, the passion and quality of their performance will never, ever, leave you disappointed. Such was the case at the Boston date of this most recent tour with Drab Majesty and Uniform. In fact, out of all the Deafheaven shows I’ve taken in, this one very well may have been the most impressive.
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This week’s selection for our Retrospective column may come as a surprise since we are a primarily metal-focused blog. There are albums, though, to which many bands bow and pay homage. Killing Joke‘s self-titled debut is one such album. Outside of it being one of the most important genre-bending records of the 80s, it has inspired masses of metal, punk, and hardcore bands with its trade-offs between ominous gloom, politically-bent fervor, and nigh-danceable rhythms. Recently, Manny-O-War and I had a conversation about how this album helped shape crust punk early on, namely Amebix. While its musical influence is undeniable, another fascinating aspect of Killing Joke is how frighteningly relevant its lyrics are over 30 years later. Continue reading →