Kansas City, Missouri’s Sucked Dry delivers to us, the unprepared listeners, a feral lesson in noisy hardcore punk. Rife with spitting attitude, Dog Children boasts fifteen tracks that seeks to rend and tear asunder. Possessed by an energy reverent of early Converge, Sucked Dry paints a mucky, mesmerizing picture.
Instant reverb swells into a thunderous breath that catches itself briefly on moody bass lines, morphing opener “Supplication Rites” into the bluesy follow-up “Catamite.” Shouts raise hell from behind a wailing chorus whinnying guitars, stepping up the ante for but a moment before ascending into the tumult of “Beta Blockers,” one of the best songs on Dog Children. Sucked Dry make a point to keep the mood fluctuating from energetic anthems to virulent spasms. Consider the brooding “Option One” and its follow-up, “Breeding,” which at moments bounces between your ears before descending into climactic screeching. The energy takes another escalation with the brisk “Option Two” which cools down for “Filler.” A daze when compared to the rest of Dog Children, this muted euphoria waivers with restrained weight.
“Slobber” takes Dog Children to its deepest depths, moving with unsettling efficiency, stalking the listener on their way to “Fastener Stripped Smooth.” The ninth track moves with measured wrath, its tempo gallivanting as it pleases by song’s end. “Outsider” rakes itself across smoking coals, the mood is palpable given the song’s minimal atmospherics and melody. Metallic rage rises and falls, intertwining with anthemic hardcore shrieks. Face-splitter “Brazil” treads familiar territory, though with the same success. “The Big Split” is pure old school and the most fun to be had on Dog Children, note that this nifty, minute song is but a shade brighter than the rest. Sucked Dry strips itself down to be wrapped in a “Nuclear Fox,” a quiet that without warning bursts, showering the experience with grim vibes. Penultimate track, “Peripherals,” breaks necks en route to the monumental finisher, “Heady,” with both tracks succeeding in tandem to bring Dog Children to a grating climax.
A wholly great offering from Sucked Dry, Dog Children’s only bone worth picking is its repetition, which stays too safe in moments where it should fly. If unapologetic hardcore is what you’re looking for, take this mutt home from the pound.
Dog Children is available as a “name your price” download from Sucked Dry’s Bandcamp. The cassette is available at Muckraker Records, with vinyl to be available in the near future from Muckraker and Not Normal.
Catch Sucked Dry on their thirteen city, East Coast tour in August, dates below:
Monday, August 5th – Iowa City, IA
Tuesday, August 6th – Chicago, IL
Wednesday, August 7th – Cleveland, OH
Thursday, August 8th – Pittsburgh, PA
Friday, August 9th – Buffalo, NY
Saturday, August 10th – Boston, MA
Sunday, August 11th – NYC, NY
Monday, August 12th – Philly, PA
Tuesday, August 13th – Richmond, VA
Wednesday, August 14th – Raleigh, NC
Thursday, August 15th – Columbus, OH
Friday, August 16th – Indianapolis, IN
Saturday, August 17th – St. Louis, MO
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