Knowso
Specialtronics Green Vision
Ever since Rocket From The Tombs gave way to Pere Ubu and The Dead Boys, Clevelands been producing endless shots of adrenaline courtesy of the wildest, weirdest sounds around. Knowso may not have much sonically in common with their citys elder statesmen, but theyre following in the same spiritual tradition, blasting away with a take on punk rock thats tense, spiky and powerful. Following on from their Look At The Chart 12" for Californias premier trash-rock stable Neck Chop, and a 7" for Total Punk, Specialtronics Green Vision is their debut album - and as full-lengths go, its a helluva first offering. Cuts like Calamine echo the likes of Devo in their jerked-out fury, but whereas theres a whole raft of slopcore bands in recent years whove focused on the other-worldly side of Mothersbaugh and co., Knowso rub their angular tendencies against clenched-teeth riffage and a brutal sense of righteous outrage. The effect is somewhere in between Steve Albinis more pointed rackets, Black Flag in both weirdo freakout and perfect slice of fury modes, and (unexpectedly) even the screwy rhetoric of Welsh wonders Future Of The Left. They have a killer CV - Knowso boast members of Cruelster, Perverts Again and Cloud Nothings among their line-up - but still, this is a record that sounds everything and nothing like those bands...