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Dusted Reviews
Artist: Park Attack Album: Last Drop at Hide Out Label: Tigersushi Review date: Jul. 8, 2004 |
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Glasgow's Park Attack revel in self-described "what wave," as good a meaningless term as any other. In the case of this 16-minute EP, it appears to indicate relatively primitive, punky, dirty rock that's perhaps equal parts Suicide, Teenage Jesus, DNA, and even a touch of Wolf Eyes mayhem.
A trio, Park Attack mesh guitar, drums, and synthesizer with the peculiar sort of yelped vocals that can be heard nowadays from bands like the Rapture and Deerhoof. What works to their benefit is positive energy and production which provides clarity without cleaning things up too much – this is messy stuff that needs to be kept that way, but it's still nice to be able to hear the details.
All of the six songs here are under four minutes, and most of them are closer to the two-minute mark. If brevity is the soul of wit, these are clever tunes; in any case, keeping things straight and to the point is a smart move. The opening "What Wave" is a brief burst of dirty, straight-ahead weird rock, with shouted vocals, wee-oo synth and rhythmic guitar flailing. Its punky edge feels very 1980 somehow (the Screamers, anyone?), but in a good, honest way. "Coma Baby Lives" is similarly punk in feel, with raw guitar strumming and primitive rhythms.
"I'm Gonna Storm the Citadel of Your Womanhood" is the flip side, slow, dark, and threatening. It's something like what I'd imagine Teenage Jesus & the Jerks to sound like if slowed down to quarter speed, atmospheric but far from peaceful.
Elsewhere, the guitar rumbles and churns away noisily, generally allowing the synth to play melody. Often, though, the rhythm is provided by drum and synth interplay while the guitar thickens the air and the vocals wail and yelp.
I'm not sure if I'd haul out the term "fresh" to describe Park Attack, but perhaps "refreshing" is fair enough. This is a pretty fun EP, but it will be interesting to see whether the band can maintain momentum over the length of a full album. The potential is there.
By Mason Jones
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