Saturday, May 18, 2013

Coliseum - Sister Faith



It has been a bit dour round here of late so let me introduce you to my new favourite band Coliseum. My blogging comrade Max introduced me to them and there is something wonderfully workmanlike about their no nonsense rock. When I say workmanlike, this is not an insult but a compliment. Somehow I am heartened by the idea that there are people like me who get up and go to work everyday but when these guys put on their work boots, their work is to produce fuck yeah rock monsters. There is no artifice, pretension or show, merely three guys who know the grinding mechanics of a good song. It also makes sense that the album is produced by J. Robbins of Jawbox (one of my all time favourite bands), a band most people remember for a skewed Tori Amos cover but consistently produced amazing work. It's no surprise that Late Night Trains and Love Under Will on Sister Faith sound like long lost Jawbox songs, those ringing guitars and dynamics have Robbins written all over them.

I mention Jawbox but I don't mean to give that as an indication of their sound as it's much more varied and complex, it's kind of a hardcore, post-punk, math rock, indie face melt with a dash of rock classicism. With that in mind, it's great to hear really tight, powerful musicians locking in on good songs - the rhythm section is flawless and of particular note is Carter Wilson's thunderous drums. I have to say it's hard to pick the best song but at a push I'd pick Doing Time, the aforementioned Late Night Trains and Save Everything. Make no mistake, there is not a weak track on this album.

If I hadn't heard the new Queens album this week, this would have been a contender for the album of the year with the National. The best thing for me is I have new back catalogue to explore if I ever get exhaust this record. Whatever the case, if you feel the need for some heavy rock action, Sister Faith delivers in spades. Get to work gentlemen.

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4 comments:

  1. Glad you like. Just one word of warning: Coliseum took a hard left turn mid way through. Everything before House with a Curse is pure hardcore. House with a Curse, Parasites and Sister Faith are of a type, but nothing like No Salvation and Goddamage and Coliseum. However, if you like brutal, thrashy hardcore, you'll also want to hear the related bands- Black Cross and Black God. Me, I like it all- and this coming friday, I'm seeing Coliseum with Red Hare ( basically, what became of Swiz). The next day, I'm seeing Baroness. All these bands - Kylesa, Baroness, Torche, Metz, etc- basically any band represented on ShirtKiller http://www.shirtkiller.com/LiteCommerce/index.php seems to be part of this scene- not quite Stoner metal, not quite Punk, but some kind of hybrid. I think it's the premiere Alt-rock scene in America.

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  2. Thanks for the heads up, I love this record and can't wait to hear more. I have to admit I do like my brutal, thrashy hardcore so I'll check them out. I still haven't been able to get into Baroness - I can hear why you'd like them but it's just not connecting. I'll give it another go. Just looked at the shirtkiller website - hmm my credit card might take a hammering soon.

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  3. now this is want i hear in my elevator rides!

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