Floor, Floor (2002)

The self-titled debut full-length from Floor is a monument to the gloriousness of weighted tonality. For me, particularly over the last couple years, it’s an album I’ve come to associate with motion, with going places. Reason being is that it was on an iPod I’d initially bought for The Patient Mrs. years back but wound up sort of appropriating after she more or less discarded it (this same iPod was also recently stolen out of my car by some jerk who remains at large), and with the relatively limited selection there as compared to my CD rack, I’d find it in the playlist usually while sitting in an airport and be all excited, pretty much each time out. So walking on airplanes, walking off airplanes, getting from here to somewhere else, Floor‘s Floor is the record for me by which that happens. It’s been my soundtrack for at least the last four trips to Roadburn.

It also seems fitting that it should be a travel album because the music itself is so compelling. Whether it’s “Scimitar,” or “Downed Star” or the one-two-three quick punch of “Twink,” “Sheech” and “Assassin,” which I still feel like I’m trying to catch up to, the album itself moves. The Miami trio of guitarist/vocalist Steve Brooks — who’d go on to found Torche following Floor‘s dissolution — guitarist Anthony Vialon and drummer Henry Wilson propelled themselves from one song to the next, sometimes in attention-deficit-disorder leaps that seemed to leave ideas incomplete in a punkish sort of tradition and sometimes just at the right time, but never with a moment wasted. To date, it remains one of heavy rock’s best examples of a lean record that still sounds mammoth and pummeling — that’s not to mention the upbeat tempos or pop influence — and its thrust and brash feel has had a considerable influence since the time of its release on No Idea Records in 2002. Probably too early to call it a classic just 12 years after the fact, but there’s nothing that seems like it’ll stop it from getting there as the years continue to progress.

All the more so because of Floor‘s reactivated status, and with this lineup. Earlier 2014’s Oblation (review here) was a worthy successor to Floor‘s original run, which came to an end with 2004’s sophomore outing, Dove. By then the lineup had changed and it was clear the dynamic in the band was shifted, but from the time Floor got back together following the welcome reception of their 10LP Below and Beyond box set through Robotic Empire (who also have a reissue of the self-titled for sale on their Bandcamp with outtakes), the question of a new album was always there, and they answered that question loudly and in progressive, still immensely heavy form. Brooks seems primed for a shift back to Torche in 2015 for their Relapse label debut, but Floor continue to play shows in support of Oblation as well, shifting from a “reunion” band to a working one. They’ll play Roadburn and Desertfest in 2015 and probably much more around Europe between. As a fan of the band, I hope they continue on and put out a follow-up fourth long-player, but the self-titled continues to hold a special place in my heart, even if that place seems to constantly be in motion.

Hope you enjoy.

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Will keep it quick this time. Stay tuned next week. Hopefully I’ll have a review of the new Murcielago record, plus the Orange Goblin which I’m sure you’ve already heard, plus an interview one way or another, be it the Lowrider Q&A or one with Soph from Alunah. I’ve also got a track premiere and quickie Q&A with It’s Casual slated for Wednesday and maybe one or two audio-type tricks up my sleeve for the rest of the week as well. We’ll see how it shapes up.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Please check out the forum and radio stream.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

Unsurprisingly, the six-song Three is the third in a series of No Idea Records EPs from Louisville, Kentucky, noise punkers Black God, whose affinity for subversion bleeds into every one of the new release’s 10 minutes. That’s right. 10 minutes, six songs. The longest cut on Three is opener (immediate points) “Ghost in You,” which hits two minutes on the dog, but everything else is a straight A-to-B shot of efficient and conscious aggression. They are not a band who doesn’t know why they’re angry. Comprised of vocalist Rob Pennington (By the Grace of God, Black Cross), guitarist Ryan Patterson (Black Cross, Coliseum, The National Acrobat), bassist Nick Thieneman (Black Cross, Breather Resist, Young Widows) and drummer Ben Sears (Prideswallower, Mountain Asleep), Black God draws on the decades of experience of its members to craft a sound that’s bullshit free and laser focused.

Yet like the best of the Louisville hardcore scene from whence it comes, Three still sounds natural and not at all over-produced. Its social commentary comes across not as pretentious ramblings that assume ignorance on the part of its audience, but as a classical populism that’s managed to avoid being coopted by corporate influence. The songs — which are what really matters — are fast and aggressive, but not at all without swing or groove, whether it’s the initial rush of “Ghost in You” or the more winding guitar-led “The Trick.” Even closer “Won’t Kiss the Ring” — the shortest track at 1:30 — holds firm to a sensibility that doesn’t sacrifice flow to pissed-offery, rounding out Three with quick gang vocals that call to mind the earlier catchiness of “Washington.”

Blink and you’ll miss it, but “Washington,” as the start of the second half of the release is among its highlight moments, with two strong hooks and no letup in the intensity of the first three pieces. Pennington‘s vocals are have a classic punk edge but are clean and discernible, and the steady thud of Sears‘ drums gives a forceful shove and bounce to verse and chorus alike. The call and response chorus, “In Washington/The night creeps in,” is a defining moment of Three, and true to the no-frills ethic they’ve proffered to this point, once they’re done, they don’t waste any time in cutting right into the subsequent “Womb to Knife.”

Today I have the pleasure of featuring “Washington” as a stream from Three, maybe as a way to mark the impending US government shutdown (which if it weren’t for all the workers and poor people getting shit on might actually be a good thing) or maybe just to wake up at the start of the week. Either way, find it on the player below, and please enjoy:

Black God‘s Three is available now on 7″ from No Idea Records in a variety of limited colors. More info at the links below.

Black God on Thee Facebooks

No Idea Records