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THROBBIN URGES - 'S/T' LP/CD |
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BUY THIS ITEM CLICK HERE FOR MAIL ORDER PRICES*** The THROBBIN URGES (consisting of Adam, Scott and Kenny) out of Midland, MI are definately of a rare breed. Midland may be know by many Michigan-ers, as a pretty small, rural factory town. Certainly not a punk/rock n roll mecca in any way, shape or form. Hell Adam, has been living in generator powered log cabin on the outskirts of Midland for the last few years. So to see ANY band come out of these circumstances of literally living in the sticks is quite an accomplishment in and of itself. But to see an active band form out of a small town like Midland AND emerge with a killer punk album is damn near astonishing! I first heard about these guys by seeing their name listed on a hand full of Detroit/Kalamazoo area shows. They were landing some pretty decent opening slots and their band name intriqued me. I mean THROBBIN URGES...that's just a cool ass band name!! So after hearing a few URGES tunes I contacted the band, and told em to send me a CD of anything and everything they had recorded. Well all I can say about that material is...WOAH!!! Their tunes can loosely be classified as garage punk because they definately abide by the 'by any means necessary' recording approach! But they certainly do have their own sound with an emphasis on the raw, mean and loud. I mean the guitar tones these guys are playing are really fuckin fuzzy, trebley and peaked. Another thing that really stood out to me is that, unlike many garage/trash bands, the THROBBIN URGES were REALLY tight. I mean these dudes are literally bashing the hell outta their instruments, but were nailing each and every tune with an incredibly admirable amount of precision. You don't really see that too often in this genre that tends to embrace the more loose n sloppy approach. Well after hearing that first CDr, along with a number of other home recordings, the THROBBIN URGES- 'S/T' LP/CD is born!! As the back of the album prominantly displays, "most songs recorded in various living rooms by THROBBIN URGES " and "some songs recorded by Cory Studt and THROBBIN URGES." The THROBBING URGES have basically been home recording all their songs since day one. Partly for archiving purposes, but mainly because their wasn't any "real" recording studio within a 2 hour radius of Midland. It was just easier for em to pop out the 8 track, slug a few back and record at their own liesure when they dialed a tune in. DIY at it's finest! 'S/T' is held together with it's harsh boundary pushing production that bands like Guitar Wolf and the Hunches have bravely chosen to tackle. The THROBBIN URGES aren't bound by the standard garage punk speed game. Some songs like 'Head In A Jar', 'Under Suspicion' and 'Accident', are very tough, in your face, mid tempo rock n roll gems. Complementing these slower rockers are a hand full of all out trash punk timebombs like 'Bad Luck' and 'Remote Control Pussy' where they up the speed and force the distortion. Than the THROBBIN URGES shift into the modern punk foray with a few angular, schizophrenic, musical blurrs penned 'Twelve Sided Die' and 'Drain Baby'. All in all a turbulent, fret thrash-mind fuck that displays the THROBBIN URGES predatory take on rock n roll!! On top of writing some pretty uniqe songs, the tightness that these guys play at is worth going into more detail. Take the opening track 'I'm So Sick', for instance. The drumming alone on this song is nothing less than amazing. Despite all the chaotic fills and tempo chages, Kenny literally nails EVERY beat with aggressive, robotic precision. And taking into consideration the invariable narcotics/alcohol consumed during the recording of this track, it's actually quite hard to be that "on". Well the same can be said for each band members performance on this track, along with every other track on the album. There is absolutely no mediocrity. Intentionally, or unintentionally, they attack each song on this album with techincal perfection. And despite their apparent tightness, the album still comes off as a bunch of dudes just having a blast and fuckin around in their practice space....er, I mean studio!! Visually, both the LP and CD are packaged in a really sharp looking sleeve that depicts a rural midtown wasteland. The THROBBIN URGES designed the sleave to reflect the "downtown" area of Midland complete with toxic spewing waste cauldrons that represent Midlands only notable claim to fame: Dow Chemical. Yep all the fake tits you see in movies, pictures, and magazines are all manufactured at Dow Chemical in lovely, rustic Midland, MI. Musically, the CD contains 12 rough n tumble cuts that documents the last year and a half of this virtually unknown Michigan band. An absolute home recording masterpiece! For all you vinyl junkies out there, you get an extra unreleased bonus track called 'By Nightfall', that's not available on the CD. Special thanks goes out to fellow Michiganer Ryan Sabatis from the Piranhas/Red Red Red for helping to remix a few of these songs when the bands home gear finally bit the dust. For Fans of: The Carbonas, LiveFastDie, Pagans, Ladies Night, Reatards, Hunches, Catholic Boys, Evolutions, Hunches, Helios Creed, Necessay Evils, Luxury Rides, Teengenerate, Candy Snatchers, Cosmic Psychos, Feelers, Kajun SS etc. |
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