MetalSucks

“Russian Circles” is like an onomatopoeia of band names; I have no idea what a Russian Circle is, but I do know that if the band name is spoken — not written — it’s accurate as fuck. Listen to any Russian Circles song and tell me their music doesn’t sound just like circles that are rushing, spiraling and spinning (hint: it helps if you’re stoned). Their excellent 2008 release Station was one of my favorite instru-metal releases of that year, and judging from the new track “Malko,” their new record Geneva (October 20th, Suicide Squeeze) will bring more of the same rushing, circling goodness.

Noise/post-rock fans, take note: ex-Botch, current-These Arms Are Snakes bass player Brian Cook is now a permanent member of Russian Circles. Yeah!

Listen to “Malko,” courtesy of The Fader, below:

Russian Circles – “Malko”

Catch the band on tour with Young Widows and Red Sparowes this fall. Dates after the jump.

-VN

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Where to begin? So many debaucherous moments — too many beers, not enough whiskeys, a shit-ton of BBQ, and a helluva lotta MUSIC….yes yes, it was another sleep-deprived week in Austin, Texas, and at the end of it all, it was the best one yet.

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Wednesday has done and drawn to a close, and an awesome day it was. Highlights included Young Widows, The Bronx, Fighting With Wire, Jucifer, El Mariachi Bronx (The Bronx as a full mariachi band), Valient Thorr, Pack of Wolves, These Arms Are Snakes, and finally meeting MS contributor Corey Mitchell in person. There’s so much to be seen today, Kip has gone missing, and I’m hungry, so I’ll make this quick:

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Minimalism and rock do not necessarily go together. But as any pregnant lady can tell you, odd cravings can lead to some really satisfying flavor sensations. With that in mind, I’m pleased to introduce My Disco.

Like Shellac if envisioned by monks instead of grizzled music business vets, this guitar-bass-drums trio embodies asceticism in their angular music. Tracks off last year’s Paradise (produced by Steve Albini) work so damn well because they’re so damn spare. No elaborate rhythms, no complex basslines, and no fucking solos! Instead, My Disco produce appreciate the silences and gaps that can come from a more selective and, yes, minimal approach to music composition. In the hands of less skilled musicians, this kind of shit would fall flat on its face, but it undeniably works for these Aussies. You can see for yourself when My Disco joins noise rockers Young Widows on a string of North American tourdates.

-GS

[Gary Suarez is more stardog champion than slumdog millionaire. He also writes for Brainwashed and sporadically manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No.]

Josh Homme’s favorite band, the ever-defiant and unabashedly offensive Dwarves, needs no introduction to any of you awkward overgrown boys who stood gawking and giggling in the local Sam Goody at their album covers as even more immature adolescents. Fronted by miscreant Blag Dahlia, the group made itself known as much for its brash punk rock tunes as for intentionally, sacrilegiously tasteless artwork that could be considered pornographic to a hapless Palin-esque puritan. After a retrospectively hilarious Beatles-referencing stunt of “killing off” exhibitionism prone guitarist HeWhoCannotBeNamed, the band was evicted from the unamused Sub Pop and ultimately found a new home a few years later on Epitaph. Despite not having released a new album since 2004, the Dwarves carry on with live assaults for their rabid fans.

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I’ve taken on the thankless assignment of the noise rock beat for Metalsucks and I couldn’t be happier to share my undying love for this savage and atonal subgenre with all you closeted Disturbed fans. From vile legends like Big Black and Helmet to beady-eyed upstarts Pissed Jeans and The Austerity Program, I’m your man; shabbily attired, inconveniently hirsute and altogether uncouth. (I briefly considered taking on a Hebraic pseudonym, as is customary here, but opted against it despite my own Word Jumble of a heritage. For the record, it would have been Moishe Milquetoast.)

Let this first installment of Scraping Genius Off The Wheel (get the reference, win a freaking door prize) serve to remind you all that while the inglorious glory days of Amphetamine Reptile and Touch & Go lie behind us, we socially awkward and hideously acned admirers of this type of music still have plenty to get excited and inappropriately erect over.

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