I usually do show reviews or interviews on Fridays, but we're doing a review instead. I don't care. Send music shit to [ fosterhildingmusic@gmail.com ] or DM me on Instagram.
 |
| photos courtesy of Sicada. |
Sicada has been on my radar for quite a while now, combining the dragging mystery of post-hardcore melodies with the young adult angst of contemporary emo. There's something so universal and ancient about their sound, the same feelings in their sprawling skramzy tunes shared with the likes of Indian Summer, Saetia, or Slint--everything Sicada does feels in the candor of some unheard dusty box of CDs. Their newest release, Extras Compilation (Demos & Live Recordings) leans into this even more--songs ripped from iPhone voice memos with rugged, raw, and uncaring production.
New Recording 69.m4a ~ live demo, 2nd take sews a creeping spider web around our heads, bass driving us into these far away, squeaking vocals that waver in power and agony. Guitar pulsing in a looping riff like some 90s weird-rock worship pushes us through, and forward. It's only ever a dim and fading, ever faster, image of some dying song. In the slow burning second half the drums go insane, spraying off in every direction against paper-sounding toms and an energy that can only end the way it began, into basement noise.
Why are you so quiet ~ (Farm) live demo starts in its own binding fury, quickly disintegrating into slow, deep, ascending guitar and pig screams. Straightforward riffs implode into phasing noise and dilapidated crunching, the cadence of which is obscured in melting layers of distortion. The drums drone on with little variance, harping on their ride for eternity between rolling fills. It's the sprawling guitar noise that makes this song for me.
'Twas brillig (...and let the feast begin) ~ live demo/jam, sprinkled with these sympathetic harmonics and a singing swan guitar, is one of my favorite tracks from this record. It feels the soundtrack for some great being as it forces its body across the Earth, each step as painful as it is deafening and thunderous. Every scream here feels wrenching, pulled from some deep, splayed string in an untouchable gut. A few songs from this project feel like they go on a little too long (which, of course, makes sense considering they're demos), but this one earns its runtime, every minute palpable and deserved as a chapter in this fading, messy story.
per diem ~ live performance takes us back to their debut in live form, as bass twangs away in our right ear, the band moving around our head as we are one with the audience. I actually quite love how torn and overblown this one sounds. It couldn't be more raw or real.
Innerlude ~ hardwear demo is a surprising left turn. Cute synths distort between 808s and crushed-to-fuck snares as we phase and resonate at varying stages of existence. It sounds like fucking around and having fun with a brand new little musical toy. Fun little track to bridge the gap between the record's halves.
New Recording 69.m4a ~ live demo, 1st take sits us down with Sicada, this track in both its forms introducing new halves, new sides of the band. I honestly really enjoy this long-form, sprawling, post-rock-ish approach to emo that they've taken in these demos. I hope we can see that extend to their thoroughly produced projects.
"bro pissed the bed" ~ live jam is simple, binging on two chords in varying rhythms and lined with bits of noisy guitar jamming and screamed rambles. It ends in ridiculous shambles.
Want some skooma? ~ live jam. Chaotic, but not without its moments of unity and interest--more like some driving dad rock anthem that devolves into Unwound train noise. The drums in this middle part rock and are some of the most interesting and inventive on the project.
just a little more ~ demo ends the album in a somber, warbling keyboard sympathy completely unexpected. It's beautiful like dust settling on last call, upright bass guiding our way home as we stumble across a fogged dawn. Then it fades away, drums brushing against one another until we've found comfort.
This album provides such a unique and cool opportunity to get into Sicada's heads, their practice space, and their process. While it is rough and incomplete, there are some really intensely beautiful little gems in here that I think could blossom into incredible songs. Thanks for reading.
6.5/10
-Foster
See Sicada live with shortstop, Slinger, Dahlia Cross, and Caught in a Flood at Street Level Eyeles on November 23rd.
Comments
Post a Comment