23 May 2012

THE MANUAL AND THE MACHINE


I posted their first tape a few months back, but San Francisco's THE MANUAL AND THE MACHINE have stepped up the weird for their second casseffort. Haunting and cacophonous bursts of unrestrained frustration, punctuated by childishly enthusiastic drums that spend the entire demo putting the listener on edge - almost as much as the pained and frustrated personal-hardcore-by-way-of-poetry-slam vocals. Background drones will lull you, while senseless guitars swarm through the mix with an urgency that embodies the entire sound of this tape. I don't expect everyone to like Social Services, but for those that get it, this band is completely mesmerizing in the same way that early SONIC YOUTH, EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBATEN and PUSSY GALORE recordings transcend talent and exist on a purity of vision that sets them apart from their peers. Yeah..that good.

2 comments:

Dk said...

These guys have a fucked up swagger that I'm totally into. Man, can't get enough of "I got this". Sounds like this was a live show - ain't not a damn thing wrong with that. Boiler Maker was pretty cool too

Unknown said...

geez robert you been taking poetry classes at the community college?! your reviews are getting awesomer by the day! i love it. i also happen to love this tape.
"purity of vision" indeed