AND THIS ARMY - Foe on sale

AND THIS ARMY - Foe
And This Army's FOE is six tracks of spacey passages and dense drone merged with an intensity that, initially, recalled Los Angeles's own Chokebore (an AmRep vet who I adore).

Like Chokebore, ATA meld together crushing guitars and swelling rhythms that at times almost hint at what Sonic Youth could do if they didn't get so content on making the same record over and over and over. Instead, their songs build and twist and duck and dodge...always moving forward...always working their way to a chaotic, yet logical end.

Yet, amidst the chaos and the riffs and the drones, there's always a sense of dark melody and song beneath it.

That's what makes this record great. Plenty of bands can be loud, heavy, dissonant, melodic, droney, etc etc etc. But when you hit stop...you realize that was all they had: noise. It's the songwriting of ATA that truly seperates them. These songs stay with you. Like the lurching, murky slowdown in "Stranglehold" which gives way to an AMAZING melodic turn, all of it hinging on Brendan McDermott's perfectly utilized vocals.

Again, like Chokebore's Troy Von Balthazar, McDermott has a voice that can be restrained and level yet maintain the ability to erupt at any moment into a surging tone that's actually strong without being overly so. None of that weak-ass-dude-who-can't-really-sing-but-thinks-he-can shit that so many "post-hardcore" bands get by with but also not having to resort to screaming to get the point across either; his voice really is the band's secret, understated, weapon.