steering clear of the mainstream
since 2001

june 2010

review
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
info opinion

Shearing Pinx

"Offing Futures" CDR

Frequent Sea Records

Genre: no wave, experimental, noise rock

Vancouver BC

June 15, 2009

Vancouver's Shearing Pinx have left a trail of releases behind them since their inception in 2005; if we go by Wikipedia, there are over fifty tapes, CDRs, and records to their name. The majority of these have been issued through singer/guitarist Nic Hughes' intensely prolific Isolated Now Waves imprint, although several other usual suspects also turn up upon a run-through of the band's discography - DNT, Not Not Fun, Arbor CDR, Turgid Animal, and so forth. I suppose what I'm driving at is that Shearing Pinx are one of the more established no-wave/noise-rock bands out there, and I am more than a little embarrassed to report that Offing Futures is the first release of theirs that I've listened to.

This CDR is divided into two tracks. The first is a twenty minute improv epic called "Undo My Type," which reveals the band's more experimental and abstract side. Following a bit of foreplay, the track jumps right into a dense wall of feedback noise, mechanical gurgling, and eerie, echoed moaning. The more you listen to it, the more you notice things deep in the mix; indeed, although the overwhelming impression is one of noise and chaos, there is a remarkable variety of things going on in this track, lending it an unpredictable and constantly metamorphosing sound. Later in the track, the sound becomes increasingly less noisy, eventually concluding on a delicate and natural note.

Track two is a recording of the band's live show for Smilin' Jay's Happy Hour, a radio program on Alberta's CJSR. This is more conventional noise-rock - you know, actual songs, with somewhat intelligible vocals, drum rhythms, and even what might be referred to as melodies. The sound is an interesting mish-mash of the noisier aspects of Sebadoh and Archers of Loaf crossed with punk-rock attitude and scrappiness. It's still far from a Tommy Roe single in terms of accessibility, but tracks like desperate "Knifefall" and the dissonantly intense "Dry Bones"/"United Queendom" tandem are seriously solid bursts of weird rock energy. Taken together, both of Offing Futures' tracks are uniquely perfect for long walks through industrial junkyards.

[Comes in a neat cardboard sleeve with a glued-on print, and includes a typewritten track listing insert. Limited to 99 copies.]

shearing pinx's myspace

78%

 

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 2 tracks, ltd to 99 copies, distributed by the label, released 2009]