Having initially encountered the Royal Mcbee corporation on their excellent split EP with Gameboy physical destruction, it seemed high time to check them out further and the opportunity soon arrived in the form of the ‘due’ EP which sees the band turn in 4 tightly wound songs of menacing, punishing, rock noise.
Shame opens the EP and it’s not unlike those early Sonic Youth records which were initially hard to love thanks to Thurston’s angsty, perpetually slightly-out-of-tune vocals and the tinny sound but after a period of time became your favourite work of that period. Certainly TRMC aren’t easy to love, but then it’s hard to imagine that they want to be – this is the sort of music that grows on you slowly. First the bass line hooks you. Savage, yet primal it is the most audible instrument (not surprising as there are no guitars), The vocals you notice too, but initially you ignore them as a side-show before you start to realise that there is a fragile brilliance in the punishing roar and menacing whispers coming out of the speakers. Finally there’s the drums – understated, yet powerful enough to level your house when the time is right – it all comes together and grows upon you listen after listen. Elements of early Beastie Boys, Sonic youth and John Spencer Blues explosion all collide on the brutal opener and it’s a worthy noise indeed.
As a result it comes as no shock that ‘due’ is equally awesome, even if it is a superficially easier song at half the length and twice the speed. With helium fuelled vocals and overloaded bass dominating proceedings its not unlike sitting at the back of a jam session between Mclusky and the Red hot chilli peppers when they were interesting and you can almost feel the sweat pouring off this mental band. My personal favourite is 50 casual trauma song – a brilliant, groove laden blast of feral noise that slays with its sound of fuzzed-up noise. Short, sharp and a thrilling shock it’s simply a cool track. ‘nuff said! The final track in this fifteen minute blast is a more complex affair that bookends the set nicely with the opening number and sees the group hammering out a tight rhythm against a bass that sounds like the amp is burning. It’s seriously cool and totally different to anything else you’ll hear this year.
Ultimately this is a great band with huge potential and a sound that is utterly unique. With elements of the best of the early nineties alt-rock bands combining with a fiercely independent streak TRMC are awesome and this is all the proof that anyone ever needed to support that statement. This EP rocks.
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