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Label: C/Z
Year: 1993
If you don't have this in your record collection already, I would like to take this opportunity to publicly shame you. You are a worthless piece of shit, and do not deserve to breath the same oxygen as the rest of us. I hope you die a slow and painful death, surrounded by the rotting corpses of your loved ones and pets.
There.
Now, to redeem yourself, go quickly to the download link, get this music onto your computer (or applicable sound device), turn it up as loud as permitted (check local zoning ordinances on this issue), and allow the bombast to begin.
Engine Kid took the math rock elements of Slint (quiet/loud dynamics) and turned the "loud" part up real loud. Not surprisingly though, as the guitarist for Engine Kid is Greg Anderson, a dude who has made an exceptional career out of being very very loud. They can get oddly eerie and quiet, but you know the huge riffs are just around the corner, and they never fail to deliver. Helping to aid and abet in this approach is a sweet engineering job courtesy of Steve Albini (that motherfucker is everywhere on this blog! Holla!) which accentuates the still empty spaces and destroys the gigantic heavy parts.
After this record, Engine Kid started flirting with jazz, released a split with Iceburn, and a full length on Revelation (among some other 7"s and compilation tracks), but kept it heavy and strange. Later Greg Anderson would go on to front some of the best metal bands around while founding one of the (thee?) best record labels around. Not too shabby. His musical lineage has been discussed on this blog before, but the other guys in the band had spent time, or would go on to spend time in Resolution, Fairgrove, Lucky Me, and Bali Girls.
If you've been enjoying Harvey Milk the last couple of years, you'd be wise to look into Engine Kid.
Slint invented the loud/quiet motif? I thought that went to the Pixies.
ReplyDeleteGotta disagree here, I'd like to remain ashamed cos I think Engine Kid were mediocre at best. They pretty much blend into the glut of Albini recorded noise/math rock of the early 90s. Listening to this stuff now there's very little to distinguish from anything else, quiet/loud/blah. Thirty Ought Six were a far superior band in my opinion but get little fanfare. I mean to be honest there's a shit-ton of bands further up the list. Get some Drunk Tank up on this ma'fucker!
ReplyDeleteeh.
ReplyDeletei always "wanted" to like them. for some reason i always thought of them with iceburn...not sure why as they are completely different. did they tour together? anyway, i always get them confused with engine down, probably cuz they both kinda stink.
do you also remember iceburn being completely badass at the fucking cinderblock sweatbox in the middle of ohio? that was awesome.
ReplyDeleteword verification is: gerbingl
i thought that was funny
i've heard just about enough of this engine kid bashing and i won't tolerate it!
ReplyDeleteit's unfair to lump engine kid in with steve albini, as they are coming from a different place musically (punk.hardcore) than the midwest noise rock bands that fall under the umbrella you are thinking. yes, they utilize some of the same dynamics, but guess what, so do most bands, it's a proven method of rocking.
in fairness, i will get some drunk tank "up in this ma'fucker".
phillip, you bastard, you know better. the iceburn connection is from the split they did on revelation, and cache used to roadie for engine kid. the difference though, is iceburn more more prone to wankery in the later stages of their career, whilst engine kid just got heavier (shades of things to come for greg anderson me assumes).
yeah, iceburn were great in columbus(? dayton?). wasn't that when they toured with into another?
didn't you go to see engine kid with me at the scrap bar in midtown when they opened for casper brtozzman massacre? some drunk buckhead whore wandered onto stage and demanded they play "happy birthday" to her, which they did, and then literally kicked her offstage? i can't believe i just remembered the scrap bar...midtown has changed, now it's a nice seafood restaurant.
hail engine kid!
this album was great but angel wings (the second one?) was amazing. they definitely lost me when them and iceburn started doing the jazz thing.
ReplyDeleteholy shit you just blew my mind with the scrap bar.
ReplyDeletethanks for this. good stuff.
ReplyDeleteAngel Wings is the pinnacle of rocking music. Yes, 30.06 was very good (particularly Hag Seed), I believe Engine Kid to be a notch above them. There's no Albini connection here, so disregard that. And Drunk Tank better than Engine Kid? Dude, you must be smoking crack cocaine. Missing or their self-titled albums come nowhere near the epic majesty of Angel Wings (produced by John Goodmanson at Bad Animals!).
ReplyDeleteThe first album was good, but the addition of Jade Devitt (hey Tri-Cities!) on drums solidifies the trio beyond words. If you think otherwise you're just plain wrong. And crazy. And high on crack cocaine.