(Drag City/Popfrenzy)

Esteemed live band make good records too

Hailing from Tel Aviv, Israel, Monotonix are a three-piece garage outfit, making their full-length debut with this record. They’re a band with a reputation for intense live performances, and it was only a badly broken leg that forced them to cancel a show here recently. Listening to this record, you can begin to grasp why they would be intense live. Things start off strongly with the post-punk riff of Flesh And Blood. Immediately noticeable is the powerful sound of the band. Both guitar and bass are huge, chunky, textured. Their aesthetic takes up the mentality of grunge and punk but converts it to the heaviness of metal and this works perfectly for them. Something Had Dried slows the pace a little but moving from chaos to slightly more controlled chaos does them no harm, lurching back and forth with sinister intent. Set Me Free features a particularly fractured vocal performance from Ami Shalev while neighbouring track Spit On Your Face is pure frenetic punk. As Noise again slows things down but again Monotonix are just as powerful when deliberate, building a lumbering giant of screams, feedback and riffs. Organ-driven closer Hunt You Down demonstrates good songwriting lurking behind all the noise. Though Monotonix’ sound isn’t particularly original, they’re damn good at it. At thirty minutes in length this is a taut record that gives you little opportunity to not enjoy it.

***½

MICHAEL PINCOTT

Comments (2)

1. Written by Crock, on 17-03-2010 00:38 Only 30 minutes on a 80- minute - data storage medium, no thank you

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