T E R M I N A L C O N S U M P T I O N
Internal tension tends to divide punk and hardcore into factions of formal or political rigidity, but Olympia in 2013 seemed keen to represent punk as cascading difference, its multiple meanings complementary, rather than at odds...Even in that setting — a latter-day high point, arguably, for one of the most storied small towns in independent music — Vexx felt especially thrilling, a combustible mixture of punk urgency and Sunset Strip swagger.
New column covers Vexx, Violent Change, Mirror, and Animal Crimes. Had to nix mention of Liquids, since their Bandcamp disappeared, so I’m posting it here.
Liquids — Liquids/Evil/Heart Beats True/Blindin’ Flash/Hot Liqs [Self]
Northwest Indiana outfit Liquids, which appears to have shared members at one point or another with regional peers such as Ooze and Coneheads, boast at least five releases this year. Listening to them back-to-back, as this writer did the other day, emphasizes how staccato playing and trebly instrumental tones cut through blurry recording. And it reveals how blurry recording lends a deceiving sense of sameness to varied songwriting, since Liquids traffic in such eclectic styles and themes as pop-punk dejection (“Zilch), amphetamine balladry (“Sun & Moon”), and soothing scatology (“Piss on Me”). The pace and breadth of their output brings to mind less evolution and more a sense of restless compulsion; each release flits between moods rather than organizing them into coherent batches. Liquids, then, is a good band name. It suggests substances that, once mixed, are difficult to separate. And the band’s preferred typeface, that kinetic-looking lettering on the cover of each EP, fittingly grants static images motion.
