31 January 2017

CELL BLOCK


The (way) Northern California scenes in Chico and Redding have been killing it the last few years. VEXED, OUTSIDE LOKING IN, CRIMINAL WAVE and a host of others have been churning out punk and hardcore in the oft overlooked dead zone between the SF Bay Area and Portland...and it's time to stop overlooking. Add CELL BLOCK, dreary and lazy vocals clash with an affected guitar that lumbers awkwardly through distortion, settling into a comfort zone behind the rhythm section. It fits nicely under the "goth punk" umbrella, though at times ("Half An Hour" for example) CELL BLOCK are really just goth...but most notably they don't really sound like anyone else, and that's a huge plus. You can probably guess what bands they celebrate, you can probably guess what people will compare them too....and I'll just keep listening to "Bedroom Floor" and that damaged guitar, and I'll keep smiling. 





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