SATURDAY FEB 11, 2017
All The Saints
The path of All The Saints is one of a band that has almost deliberately hid in plain view. The story is simple: three Alabama kids raised on a diet of Crimson Tide football and loud “college rock” move to the big city of Atlanta in the early aughts. From here they were noticed by stalwart label Touch & Go and hold the distinction of being the final band being “signed” to the label before Corey decided to stop daily operations. The next decade showed a band not just improving what they do, but instead almost expanding their performances to cinematic war zones. For a three piece, you’d close your eyes and think a battalion of marauders were just around the bend. For those who relished their gigs, their live performances became infrequent occurrences.
ATS, Henry and Jason sat down to discuss what has become the band’s third full length Look Like You’re Going Somewhere. Recorded over three days in the Maze Studios over in Cabbagetown, ATS plowed through tracking and overdubs. Over the following months, the record was finished and boy howdy, did they turn in a ringer. In parts sounding like Spacemen 3, The Jesus Lizard, Sonic Youth and Sleep all rolled into one, Look Like You’re Going Somewhere is the record that ATS was destined to make. And now you, dear listener, get to soak in the closest simulacrum to the band’s unstoppable live performances. Sit down, pay attention, and soak it up.
The path of All The Saints is one of a band that has almost deliberately hid in plain view. The story is simple: three Alabama kids raised on a diet of Crimson Tide football and loud “college rock” move to the big city of Atlanta in the early aughts. From here they were noticed by stalwart label Touch & Go and hold the distinction of being the final band being “signed” to the label before Corey decided to stop daily operations. The next decade showed a band not just improving what they do, but instead almost expanding their performances to cinematic war zones. For a three piece, you’d close your eyes and think a battalion of marauders were just around the bend. For those who relished their gigs, their live performances became infrequent occurrences.
ATS, Henry and Jason sat down to discuss what has become the band’s third full length Look Like You’re Going Somewhere. Recorded over three days in the Maze Studios over in Cabbagetown, ATS plowed through tracking and overdubs. Over the following months, the record was finished and boy howdy, did they turn in a ringer. In parts sounding like Spacemen 3, The Jesus Lizard, Sonic Youth and Sleep all rolled into one, Look Like You’re Going Somewhere is the record that ATS was destined to make. And now you, dear listener, get to soak in the closest simulacrum to the band’s unstoppable live performances. Sit down, pay attention, and soak it up.
Nurse
"Consisting of members from Dasher, Slugga, Manic and the now-defunct Cheap Art, relative newcomers Nurse have followed up last year’s excellent demo tape with a new four-song 7-inch. While their demo was a raw, grimy assault of hardcore/powerviolence, their 7-inch improves upon their sound with more polished production and interesting dynamics. Some of the guitar work here I would not expect to hear in the context of most hardcore. For instance, the riff that opens and closes A-side opener “The Anchor,” sounds downright surreal and foreboding (at least relative to what comes afterwards), in an almost deathrock-influenced fashion. The song that follows, “I Can See You,” is just over a minute of driving hardcore tension; at 0:53, there’s even a solo of sorts to interrupt the monotony, but rather than give the listener a chance for a quick breather, it reeks of increasing suspense. The end result is downright unnerving. I particularly enjoyed the way this record alternates effortlessly between moods. “Pressure” is undoubtedly the best example of this: it opens with a brutal post-punk riff and quickly devolves into catchy hardcore punk territory before returning to the previous riff again and again. “Blood Breath” is more reminiscent of the second track, however, there are scattered, ephemeral moments of the brooding misanthropy hinted at by the album art, which features a cloaked Death holding a small boy under his robe in a sepia-toned forest. Only the boy’s face is shown and his expression is ambiguous. Is he being held captive and emerging for the picture out of a drugged haze? Or is he a sort of protégé of Death, staring at us with the maximum intimidation he can muster? I suspect the group’s self-appointed “funeral hardcore” label is mostly a tongue-in-cheek descriptor, but with some more introspective moments, the band could definitely earn a place in the soundtrack to my next cemetery excursion." -Immersive Atlanta
"Consisting of members from Dasher, Slugga, Manic and the now-defunct Cheap Art, relative newcomers Nurse have followed up last year’s excellent demo tape with a new four-song 7-inch. While their demo was a raw, grimy assault of hardcore/powerviolence, their 7-inch improves upon their sound with more polished production and interesting dynamics. Some of the guitar work here I would not expect to hear in the context of most hardcore. For instance, the riff that opens and closes A-side opener “The Anchor,” sounds downright surreal and foreboding (at least relative to what comes afterwards), in an almost deathrock-influenced fashion. The song that follows, “I Can See You,” is just over a minute of driving hardcore tension; at 0:53, there’s even a solo of sorts to interrupt the monotony, but rather than give the listener a chance for a quick breather, it reeks of increasing suspense. The end result is downright unnerving. I particularly enjoyed the way this record alternates effortlessly between moods. “Pressure” is undoubtedly the best example of this: it opens with a brutal post-punk riff and quickly devolves into catchy hardcore punk territory before returning to the previous riff again and again. “Blood Breath” is more reminiscent of the second track, however, there are scattered, ephemeral moments of the brooding misanthropy hinted at by the album art, which features a cloaked Death holding a small boy under his robe in a sepia-toned forest. Only the boy’s face is shown and his expression is ambiguous. Is he being held captive and emerging for the picture out of a drugged haze? Or is he a sort of protégé of Death, staring at us with the maximum intimidation he can muster? I suspect the group’s self-appointed “funeral hardcore” label is mostly a tongue-in-cheek descriptor, but with some more introspective moments, the band could definitely earn a place in the soundtrack to my next cemetery excursion." -Immersive Atlanta
Glare
"On their debut single, Atlanta trio Glare stick to post-punk orthodoxy while twisting their penchant for the morose into a three-minute slab of ferocity. The thunderous track invokes the smog-covered alleys and dingy clubs of late ’70s London, but the band focuses the energy of “Cult of Culture” by deconstructing modern pop sensibilities and embracing latent punk aggression. Vocalist and guitarist Rachel Pagillo delivers each line with all the confidence of Siouxsie Sioux. She cleverly toys with dynamics, swaggering over a pounding bassline with a vibrancy occasionally lost in the band’s guitar-laden live performances." – Immersive Atlanta
"On their debut single, Atlanta trio Glare stick to post-punk orthodoxy while twisting their penchant for the morose into a three-minute slab of ferocity. The thunderous track invokes the smog-covered alleys and dingy clubs of late ’70s London, but the band focuses the energy of “Cult of Culture” by deconstructing modern pop sensibilities and embracing latent punk aggression. Vocalist and guitarist Rachel Pagillo delivers each line with all the confidence of Siouxsie Sioux. She cleverly toys with dynamics, swaggering over a pounding bassline with a vibrancy occasionally lost in the band’s guitar-laden live performances." – Immersive Atlanta