Long Knife: Curb Stomp Earth 12″

Description

NOTE: Our current stock copies are on green vinyl.

The third chapter in the decade long existence of one of the most depraved Portland hardcore bands ever. If you know, you know, as LONG KNIFE has channeled and perfected the POISON IDEA sound, though if you pay attention to their catalog, you can see how they have evolved into their own beast over the years, making the PI comparisons trite. Every song on this record offers something different, whether its keyboards, horns (yep), what sounds to be operatic gang vocals, or just straight up hardcore bangers. This LP still maintains the intensity, insanity, and aggression these maniacs are known for, though there seems to be a bit more melody thrown in under the chaos this time. The riffs, solos, bass licks and Colins vocals/lyrics are just as awesome as ever. And of course, the lyrics are just as cynical, disturbing, and well written as weve come to expect. There is no slowing down for these guys and the Earth is ready to be curb stomped again and again with LONG KNIFEs fucked up pummelling songs for these fucked up times. Each record comes in a deluxe package – thick jacket, printed inner sleeve and a huge poster plus stunning cover art by Alina Radetsky.

Our take: In case you arent familiar with Long Knife, they began their life in Portland around a decade ago, and while they were an excellent, powerful hardcore band from the beginning, they were perhaps most notable for how much they sounded like Poison Idea. While theres still some Poison Idea in the equation on Curb Stomp Earth, its the wide-vistad, pop-inflected Poison Idea of Feel the Darkness rather than the earlier hardcore stuff. It sounds like, with Curb Stomp Earth, Long Knife has thrown off any preconceptions about what their music can or should be and let their creativity run wild, arriving at a real masterpiece of a punk record. There are so many moments on this record I never would have seen coming the grandiose opening track Modern Fatigue (which features a choir!), the boogie woogie saxophone on Uncle Phil, the spooky organ hooks on Scum, and the anthemic finish to the album-closer Coast to Coast. Not only are these moments causes for a stoke attack in and of themselves, but they sit atop a solid plinth of the fist-pumping, straightforward hardcore Long Knife has always excelled at creating. Its one thing to create an album full of left turns that keeps you guessing about whats coming next, and another to create a surprise-packed album thats just as exciting on the 10th listen as the first. Curb Stomp Earth achieves that goal, and its undoubtedly one of the most exciting and invigorating punk albums well hear this year.