Wait. Not “toes.” “Shows.” Throttlerod has some big shows coming up. I’m an idiot.

If you’re anything like me, you think of Throttlerod as the band whose guitarist and vocalist Matt Whitehead made fun of you (playfully, I’m sure) for using the phrase “jagged noise influence” when describing their music in your interview. Then again, maybe you’re not like me in that regard. Might be on my own for that one.

Whatever. I happen to know Throttlerod has some big shows coming up, and I know this because of a mystical email received informing me of same. Observe!

Throttlerod has some big shows coming up [Told you, dude. — ed.]:

3/18/10 Austin, TX @ Encore **Small Stone Records SXSW Showcase** We play at 8PM sharp, so you know what to do.
3/20/10 Spartanburg, SC @ Ground Zero **this will be our first show [here] in several years and we’ve got a lot in the works, so come early and stay late.
5/14/10 Morgantown, WV @ 123 Pleasant St. w/ Hovel
5/15/10 TBD

The limited acoustic Starve the Dead EP aside (and that’s not one you actually want to push to the side, because it rules; see “Hate this Town” for irrefutable proof), the 10-year story of Virginia‘s Throttlerod has been one of going from noisy to noisier. Over the course of their four full-lengths — including the latest and recently reviewed Pig Charmer (Small Stone) — the Richmond trio has become continually more aggressive and more streamlined, sounding at last as though they’ve stripped their music of any and all frills and honed their most effective balance yet of melody and anger.

Guitarist/vocalist Matt Whitehead, bassist Andrew Schneider (also the Brooklyn-based producer for Cave In, Puny Human and many others) and drummer Kevin White have seen their reputation grow in tandem with their shifting sonic approach, and though they’re a decade into their career, their music has never sounded fresher than it does now. Whitehead took some time out over his lunch break to answer the email interview that follows the jump. Enjoy.

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Sounds like a douchebag thing to say, I know, but whoever pissed off Richmond, VA/Brooklyn, NY‘s Throttlerod, I’m really glad they did it. Their first two albums, 2000’s Eastbound and Down and 2003’s Hell and High Water get high praise because of their southern attitude and triple-hops rock, but with 2006’s Nail and now even more with their new full-length, Pig Charmer (Small Stone), they move into furious noise-laden riffs and a melodic catharsis that would make Unsane blush.

Bassist/producer Andrew Schneider, who joined before Nail, might have something to do with it. The Brooklyn contingent in the trio, his presence has lent new intensity and though their songwriting has managed to maintain its structure, Throttlerod sound like a band working out a heavy emotional release, with the vocals of guitarist Matt Whitehead alternating between a capable croon and abrasive shouts, all while Schneider gets the best of his six-string tone and of Kevin White‘s drumming as he’s done for the likes of Cave In, Puny Human, Hackman and many, many more. Even the heaviest of the tracks, early cut “Hum” or the later, feedback-drenched “Dink,” keep their heads melodically and Pig Charmer is all the better for it. Without sounding overly commercial or falling into formulaic clean/harsh singing tradeoffs, Throttlerod offer ballsy sonic diversity in a skin-peeling context full of passion and densely pressed onto plastic.

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Looks like Brooklyn/Richmond, VA-based noisemakers Throttlerod have titled their new album Pig Charmer. According to a post from Small Stone Records head honcho Scott Hamilton on the StonerRock.com forum, the record will be out late August. Meanwhile, over at their MySpace page, the band has unceremoniously revealed the track listing to be as follows:

1. Clean
2. Hum
3. Serenade
4. Beggar’s Blanket
5. Baton Rouge
6. Jigsaw
7. Buffalo
8. Rider
9. The Sweetness
10. Where’s Josh?
11. Dink
12. Majors

Good stuff, looking forward to hearing it. Throttlerod is always one of those bands I really dig while I’m listening to them and then put the CD away and never go back to it — the exception perhaps being the acoustic EP Starve the Dead. Would be great to see the band cash in on the energy from their last album, Nail, in a memorable way. In any case, you can’t really lose. Hail heavy rock.

Good news from Richmond, VA‘s Throttlerod, whose new album I’ve been waiting to hear since they released Nail in 2006. Hopefully it’s out before the end of the year. Here’s the update from the band:

We are very happy to announce that we are putting the final touches on the new record. Listening to these songs next to Hell and High Water and Nail, it is clear that this is the biggest sounding record we’ve done! There is no release date yet but we should know something fairly soon.

In other news, we are playing shows in May, including one with Clutch. These will be the first shows we’ve done since October, so we`re really looking forward to getting back on stage.

5/21: Norfolk, VA – The Norva, with Clutch, Wino and Maylene & the Sons of Disaster
5/22: Columbia, SC – New Brookland Tavern
5/23: Charlotte, NC – Snug Harbor
5/24: Greenville, SC – The Handlebar

A couple days ago, I sent Birds of Prey vocalist Ben Hogg (also of Beaten Back to Pure and the even more extreme Plague the Suffering) an email, asking him if he would kindly write up a feature on his experience making The Hellpreacher, the third BOP album, due out in April via Relapse. His response was a reassuring, “I’m down. Gimme a few days,” and I knew then the right choice had been made.

True to his word, a couple days later, Ben sent the following report on the origins of the band and the coming together of The Hellpreacher. After the jump, bear witness to the one and only Ben Hogg.

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