Ok, so I misread the email title as Pigs Wonger, thinking it was perhaps something to do with the recent ‘Swinegate’ controversy surrounding David Cameron, but closer inspection revealed something way better – an album called ‘Wronger’ by Pigs, who feature in their lineup Dave Curran from Unsane, Jim Paradise from Player’s Club and Freshkills and renowned producer Andrew Schneider (Cave In, Converge, Made Out of Babies, Unsane, Keelhaul). So I prepare myself something noisy and hard. And that’s precisely what the album delivers.
A squall of feedback, dissonant guitars and percussive explosions herald the album’s arrival with ‘A Great Blight’, which calls to mind ‘Sop’ era Swans. It’s a sound designed to bludgeon, rather than charm the listener.
The bulk of the album is devoted to snarling, grinding, metal-edged gritty, grungy riffage, driven by powerhouse drumming and topped with gnarling, full-throated vocals, and there’s not much let-up over the duration of the 11 tracks. You’d be hard pushed to find anything readily identifiable as a melody here, but its driving ferocity wins by sheer force.
|
The ‘Unsane-meets-Jesus Lizard’ comparisons you may have read elsewhere in reference to Pigs – yes, they’re right. The sound has that grainy, dense tone to it that rages and rages and rages. Likewise the classic sound of Touch and Go, Amphetamine Reptile and Sub Pop. It’s pretty much a given if those bands and labels are your scene, then you won’t go wrong with ‘Wronger.’
Pigs Online
|
