Seattle’s Akimbo seem like they should be easy to classify, but many subtle elements of various aggressive sub-genres find their way into the band’s crushing sound and offer inviting ears a few curve-balls along the way. Guitarist Aaron Walters [one of ELEVEN axe-slingers over the band's career (!)] claims in the below interview that the explanation started out as “Black Sabbath meets Black Flag meets The Melvins”, which is pretty spot-on in representing the stony thump-grooves/rawkish punk asthetic/noiseful attributes, but I feel compelled to throw a couple more names in the hat, most notably Motorhead (so many parts are teeming with Lemmy’s uptempo forward-thrusting momentum) and local angular heart-core heros Botch [whose bassist Brian Cook went on to pummel in MS faves These Arms Are Snakes (RIP) and space-proggateers Russian Circles]. Bluesy, fuzzed-out Zeppelin-y jamouts meld with abrasive sludge to forge a style that is instantly familiar but somehow unexpectedly original in the songwriting.

These daze Akimbo has refined their sound and create a more soothing heavy-scape, as exemplified by their most recent 2008 album Jersey Shores, “a concept album inspired by a series of mysterious shark attacks which occurred on the beaches of New Jersey in 1916. This latest effort showed a substantial deviation in style from previous recordings, which can be attributed in part to Aaron Walters’ contributions as a guitarist/writer.” (Wiki) Original founding members Jon Weisnewski (bass, vocals) and Nat Damm (drums) continue to sustain a furious and punishing rhythm section while exploring new textures throughout.

Funny that they released this album the year before another Jersey Shore became such a huge worldwide phenomenon — I’m sure Akimbo has been hearing all about that for quite some time now, probably both to their amusement and chagrin.

Speaking of which, have you seen poof’d tanster tits Snooki get punched in the face from last season? Now that’s metal.

Visit Akimbo on Everyone’sSpace

Read previous Akimbo posts by Vince and moi, and Christopher Roddy’s review of Jersey Shores

Let’s all sludge past the, whatchamacallit……oh yeah, jumpppp, for more Akimbo live videos and an interview.

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Jersey Shores represents a new chapter in the the book of Akimbo. Using the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 as their source material they’ve managed to create a thoughtful, if unruly, thematic work that surpasses everything they’ve recorded to date. It’s not the sort of album you can recommend to just anybody, but there are some incredibly impressive moments of meditative, jammy hardcore that deserve some time in the limelight.

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Free of the shackles of a major record label, The Bronx frontman Matt Caughthran seemed like a newly reinvigorated man when I spoke to him on the phone this fall. Excited about finally having a team behind the band that actually cares about the band and their awesome new record The Bronx III, Matt told us about how the band’s deal with Island / DefJam went south, what’s it’s like to be in control of everything again, and about the writing and recording of the both the band’s new record and the already-recorded, soon-to-be-released traditional mariachi record they have in the can.

We were supposed to rendezvous at the midtown offices of the band’s publicists but Matt got caught up handling band business at their management’s office, the same firm who handles Fall Out Boy. And that’s where the conversation began.

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Our bro-bros at BITPOM have posted pictures from the MetalSucks co-sponsored CMJ showcase this past Tuesday night featuring The Bronx, Trash Talk and Akimbo. To say that all three bands impressed and tore the tiny basement of Fontana’s apart would be an understatement. Check out BITPOM for the full photo-set of all three bands.

Lest you forget, MetalSucks is sponsoring a show this year at CMJ, otherwise known as the week in which thousands of annoying skinny pants-wearing indie snobs descend upon downtown Manhattan. But fuck ‘em, because there are a ton of great metal events going on this year, of which your favorite metal douchebags are sponsoring one!

Tuesday, October 21st
Fontana’s
105 Eldridge St., NYC
8pm, $8 cover

THE BRONX
TRASH TALK
AKIMBO

See you there.

-VN, AR & KW

MetalSucks is proud to announce our first-ever CMJ event. Together with the fine folks at Solid PR, Sailor Jerry, and Keep-a-Breast.org, we will be hosting a show during the week in which thousands of music industry minions and self-important snobs descend upon NYC’s Lower East Side, also known as the CMJ Music Marathon. The details:

Tuesday, October 21st
Fontana’s – 105 Eldridge St.

THE BRONX
TRASH TALK
AKIMBO

That’s a fucking great lineup. I love The Bronx, and you should too; even if they’re actually from L.A., we’ll forgive them because they rock so damn hard. Akimbo is also a really cool and innovative band; and though I don’t much about Trash Talk, I’m sure they’re worthy of your time by way of inclusion on this bill.

See you there! Buy us drinks. We poor.

Kip has been raving about Seattle’s Akimbo to me pretty much since we met one drunken night at a Mastodon show in the bowels of New Jersey, and with a new album on the way (Jersey Shores, September 23rd on Neurot) and the spate of press releases that accompany said album, I finally decided to give ‘em a shot.

And I like. What I’m hearing is a blend of stoner rock/metal ala Mastodon/Isis/Neurosis, but with an extra emphasis on being bluesy and rocking the fuck out. Like, imagine those bands but way less serious and introspective and way more FUN. A stonier Bronx, if you will.

Check out the new song “Great White Bull” and a collection of older ones on their MySpace page, and let us know what you think.

-VN

I thankfully got to see the Seattle power trio Akimbo play earlier this year in Austin, TX, at SXSW 2007 and they did not disappoint. Their prolific back catalog is filled with pulsating, punk-tinged metal and occasionally Motorhead-ish aggression throughout, but their sound has certainly evolved over the last seven years and so therefore it may take checking out tracks from a few different albums to find an appropriate match that will not disappoint you and your discerning taste. Luckily, Akimbo has downloadable cuts from each of their five albums up on their website for your listening pleasure.

As for their new album, Navigating The Bronze, I can’t say much about it as I’ve only heard a few tracks thus far, but the band sounds way stonier than ever before, which is usually a good thing.

If you’re in the MetalSucks European contingent (or simply on holiday overseas, you rich bastard!), go see this band tear it up; they’ll be touring across the pond for a few weeks beginning at the end of October.

-KW

Visit Akimbo’s website: here

Visit Akimbo on myspace: here