Office of Future Plans

Hammerhead, “Evil Twin”

Hammerhead’s initial three-album run with Amphetamine Reptile is probably my favorite on the label, and it’s the second and third albums (Into The Vortex and Duh, The Big City) that are the real prizes. The first record is good, but the latter two are two of my favorite noise rock albums by anybody ever. But it wasn’t like Into the Vortex just thundered out of the sky out of nowhere. It was heralded by the 1993 EP Evil Twin, which showed how much of a step forward Hammerhead had taken. What stands out to me is how propulsive it sounds. Hammerhead is going places, and nothing is going to stop them, and they will just run you over if you’re in the way. That sense of groove moderates the aggression into something that is compulsively listenable to me.

I don’t know about anybody else, but I still haven’t adjusted to new releases being on Fridays. For a long, long period of my life, Tuesdays were just a little more exciting than other weekdays, because it was when new music came out. I miss that. I’m old. But I have music for you!

Craw, “Days in the Gutter/Nights in the Gutter”

Craw was an underground rock band from Cleveland playing music in the vein of bands like the Jesus Lizard, Bitch Magnet, etc. Note my delicate avoidance of the “post-hardcore” label! Note, also, that I still managed to get it in there. At any rate, despite being very plugged into that scene at the time, and even living not far away in Pittsburgh, I managed to completely miss them. However, thanks to a Kickstarter project, their three albums got reissued, and it’s great stuff. It really was a pleasure discovering a new band from that scene and suddenly having three albums of material to listen to. There’s a strong Steve Albini vibe to this track, which is OK by me!