Montclair, one of the many New Jersey cities that dot the shadow of Manhattan, lies on the map along the train lines stretching to the south of the lower state. The city’s convenient situation near the many highway hubs of New Jersey make this stop particularly accessible for both audience and and artist alike between the south and the metropolitan areas along the coast above.
In this city, under a stretch of restaurants off the main drag, is a former meat locker turned venue and recording studio known appropriately as the Meat Locker. And it it here that I got in touch with Montclair, NJ’s flagship stoner punk band, Dutchguts.
It’s these guys who set the tone of the venue as a place to come to if you are looking for loud, harsh, discomforting punk and metal. They’ve also taken pains over the years to amass the equipment and skills necessary to self-produce almost all material for themselves, which they’ve given to the punk masses over the years in the form of a flurry of relatively short but content-heavy EPs. Their latest release, Losing Sleep, has been a huge payoff to that experience. It’s a huge jump in quality from previous years, which is not to sell the band short of course – but these four tracks coming in for a total runtime of 10:28 offer the perfect addition to any tone/gear/punk/brutality fanatic’s rotation.
Like their previous EPs, Losing Sleep is made up of distortion-laden screamalongs and violent instrumental parts that, in the signature Dutchguts way, always form a whole piece that just generally leaves you feeling used, hurt, unpleasant, and maybe high. This is especially effective with a trio in my personal opinion; with a three piece band one of my favorite traits is how each extra-heavy drum impact, each split-second feedback from the guitar, each overdriven and distorted hum from the bass during a pause, is distinctive and lost nowhere within the sea of noise that makes up a majority of the recorded music I listen to. The title track is a standout, coming in after the instrumental Eroded whiplashes you from brutal speed parts to a slow, low, hazy stoner riff. But there are many labels you could attach that really just mean these guys have great influences; you hear the noise influence, the doom, the hardcore punk, everything that everyone wants to say they can pull off but might not be able to. The B-Sides Dead or in Jail and Piece of Mind, provide the stonery anchor, ending the EP with slow riffage that drags you to the bottom until you have to hit ‘stop,’ get out of your car, and go have be a normal person. It’s a nice break from the general obligations of being an awake, functioning person.
Listen, and seek them out
FUCKFACE
October 7, 2013 at 3:52 pm
well put! they have a new split out now and they cover a town van zandt song, its amazing