As regards the avant audio terrorism of Philadelphia, PA, duo Hulk Smash, you’ll probably find all manner of interpretations when it comes to reviews and that sort of thing. By no means is mine to be definitive. That is, the band’s full-length debut, The Hulk Smash Album (self-released through the band’s own HSIndustries with gorgeous pen and ink artwork by Brooks Wilson), touches on any number of underground genres, from doom to punk and industrial in between. What ties it all together is the prevailing modern sensibility shown, mostly in the lyrics of bassist/multi-instrumentalist/vocalist BJ Howze (also of Dangerbird). Hulk Smash, oddly enough, remain in control throughout the entirety of their Album.

So, slap “progressive” and “experimental” on them and we’re done, right? Yes and no. While Howze handles an eight-string bass — think 12-string guitar, then fatten everything up — various synths and a vocal harmonizer and then-drummer Matt Garfield also contributes vocals and organ and more synth, underneath the multi-directional barrage, there is something determined about Hulk Smash, like a straight line running in the same direction through a squiggly one. This could easily be the band’s punk side coming through, but aside from “Treo 1250,” which is essentially just noise, tracks like “Funeral Plan” and “Red Planet” have a confidently-executed core within them that provides something for the listener to latch onto and adheres to a traditional verse/chorus structure. Within the confines of these tracks, and as abrasive as they can be, the duo manages to strike and maintain a balance that puts The Hulk Smash Album in an entirely different league of mad sciences.

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