#gloompunk

SINGLE FILE:

PAWNS

“DAMASCUS”

MASS MEDIA

PAWNS are back with a second single titled “Damascus” as they ramp-up for their new Ben Greenberg (Uniform) engineered LP ‘The Gallows.’

The NYC based group: Gage Allison (vox), Noel Mateus (guitars), Jenna Rose (bass), Saleem Batniji (drums), bring the brooding trad-era deathrock on their latest. “Damascus” kicks off with a military beat courtesy of Batniji before falling in line as Allison commands the room over a bed of skeletally ringing guitars and a thudding low-end. 

PAWNS have brought the pain once again, so call it punk, call it anarcho, call it goth, call it whatever the fuck you want, just press play and enjoy…

Fearing

‘A Life of None’

Funeral Party

The kind of dark, brooding, and equally booming rock music that Fearing create on their debut EP 'A Life of None' has been sorely missing in recent years. 

The Oakland based group, who's members come from various backgrounds in punk and hardcore (most notably Creative Adult), came together out of a passion for the one thing all old (indie) punks love.....Goth. With a self-described sound as “sort of like Asylum Party mixed with Sisters Of Mercy—maybe with a slight Nick Cave edge to it,” Fearing have carved out a niche of their own…

The gloomy post-punks bring what you’ve come to expect in their short existence, brooding Goth Rock where guitars are the tools of choice. Opener “Behind the Mask” finds vocalist/bassist James Rogers bellowing in & around ringing guitars, propulsive bass, and an organically cold beat.

Second song, and lead single, “Beyond Light” sticks to the aggressively dark template of chiming guitars, thick bass, and wallowed out vocals. "A Way With Me" is a pitch perfect slice of gloom rock, blackened yet easily danceable. The guitars are loud, the bass pronounced, and the subtle synth buried in the track's final third is a thing of beauty. 

The EP closes out with the morose "Another Night" which lurches along in a menacing way that frays the nerves but doesn't stop you from wanting to slow dance. “Another Night” is further proof that you can’t put a price on the tried & true combination of pronounced bass, spidery guitar leads, and singing from within a cave.

Death Index

‘Death Index’ 

Deathwish

Yes yes yes! 

Carson Cox, daytime crooner for art-Pop behemoths Merchandise, is one half of the gloom-punk duo Death Index, along with his Italian cohort and multi-instrumentalist Marco Rapisarda. The self-titled debut LP by Death Index is a no nonsense affair that aims to punish the senses and sooth the fray.

If you happen to enjoy short blasts of gloomy hardcore or moody Deathrock, then stop reading this shit and go get the album. As a fan of short songs, goth, and above all else harboring a serious man-crush on the handsome Cox, Death Index is an absolute delight (which only furthers the infatuation). 

Death Index is more in line with Cox’s early days playing storage locker shows in the local Tampa hardcore scene, only darker, brooding, and more confident. The group’s debut makes for an interesting dynamic, with Cox applying his inflicted croon atop noisy and brutally apt soundscapes.

As much as Cox claims to hate Morrissey, he once again channels that unmistakable phrasing of the lauded singer (which isn’t as easy as it may seem). It’s so distinct in fact, that Death Index may as well be Moz’s long lost punk album. 

The songs that comprise the album rarely give you a chance to breathe, let alone the chance to tire of them, which in today’s hyper accelerated culture is saying something. 

The Rundown (which’ll be as short as the songs):

“Fast Money Kill” bursts the outta the gate with thrash riffs and brutal blasts, while Cox lays the croon on thick. Before you know it, the fucker’s done. 

Early single “Dream Machine” is a Deathrock chugger, with Cox’s voice haunting you from a distance. “The Meal” brings some gloomy menace, martial beats, and a trance like Cox. 

“Fuori Controllo” is a :42 blast of hardcore fury, no frills, the end. Behold the lurching slab of groovy gloom in the form of “FUP.” 

“Little ‘n’ Pretty” is a bruising exercise in Punk 101 that manages to eclipse the 2 minute mark (just barely). The album takes a turn into gothier electro territory on the pulsing post-punk of “Lost Bodies” which finds our boy Cox in hushed tones and emoting over a minimally sinister bed. 

“We’ve Got A Number” immediately returns to the noisier heart of the album in a manageable clip, recalling a Misfits mid song gear shifting power push.

“JFK” is all rumbled doom, featuring a narco drawl and tempo crawls. The record closes with “Patto Con Dio” literally taking up a quarter of the LP’s run time by extending its Deathrock march past the 7 minute mark. 

Death Index’s debut album rarely relents and blasts through its existence with maximum effect. Marco Rapisarda’s arrangements are the perfect foil for Cox’s croon and the two make for an inspired duo. 

Cox has one of those voices you long to hear and one in which can change the dynamics of any project he’s involved in. With Merchandise’s further (and welcomed) immersion into damaged art-Pop, it’s a treat to spend time with Cox in a more brutal setting and the singer only furthers himself as this era’s most iconic frontmen by exploring countless depths.