Fuck-Ushima closed 2014 with their third release, the nine-track album First Come, First Served, and it is quite an interesting release for sure. Following last year’s Selfbeated and 2012’s Reel 1, this Finnish five-piece plays music of no discernible style, gravitating from hardcore to sludge to grindcore with a fervor that ranges from fluid to clumsy.
First Come, First Served suffers from an overabundance of feedback within its first four tracks, bridging together a misshapen series that infrequently demonstrates a potentially unique flavor. The guitars maintain a vicious structure only to spiral into noise, before righting themselves just enough to retain interest, where others they might as well be punching their instruments. The vocals are urgent, but also overly spastic, shifting from screech to growl to imitating the reaction one might have running their genitals against a cheese grater. The fifth track, “Ulvila Blues,” is where this album finally takes shape and elicits enjoyment, despite its opening muddle of feedback and sample use. At five minutes, this is where First Come, First Served is given room to breath, rather than seizing haphazardly between abrasive style and hoping it’ll stick. “Ulvila Blues” is sinister in its pacing, with the sounds thrumming from a deep, dark place before trailing off into a truly palpable brand of despair. The four songs that follow are executed in a much the same way – by maintaining the hooks beyond chaotic snippets, even though the entire record appears to hinge on the usually welcoming discomfort that feedback presents. “Control” manages to harness the shine that “Ulvila Blues” presented, moving with sludgy grace before fading into unfortunate samples.
First Come, First Served succeeds in grabbing attention just as much as it excels in losing it; however, Fuck-Ushima is certainly a band to look out for, as despite the album’s slovenly anatomy, there is passion here, and in a scene where many play by the numbers, this chaotic zeal is certainly refreshing. First Come, First Served and their preceding discography are available on their Bandcamp.
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