TOTAL DISCHARGE "Automatic Zone" C32
(self released)




Not a punk/hardcore band. Nope.

I’d just finished reviewing/fawning over a solid batch of four RRAADD tapes recently released by a local tape label I pretty much can’t get enough of (CT), so… I thought… “Hey,…I’ll just pick out a rando tape with some shitty (read: “Name my ego doesn’t immediately relate to”) name, just, y’know… to get it out of the way…
Remember that wise old qibong turtle or whatever that says to not judge a race by its covert density?

Long fable short, this tape blew my (shitty) expectations out of most potable liquids. I’m on my 7th round, now, and am still discovering hidden complexities/parallels to all them Eighties New Wave acts I’ve loved since my inception.

Note! I’d already appreciated the multitude of timbre changes/noisy permutations of the noisy synthesizer(s) that dominate each of these track’s movements. I’d also felt great about wishing I were (theoretically) a part of some tighter-than-tight Bass/Drum contingent that could drive a band like this to its commanding authority. I’d also wondered if this is what David Yow sounded like as a teenager, before diving headfirst into his (delightful!) megalomania. So many explorations!

I cannot even appropriately tie in the shades of Brainiac and ‘90s Gary Numan that are sprinkled throughout this album, so I’ll just leave this sentence here.

This isn’t punk/hardcore. Nope. It is, however, beyond dynamic, driving, dissonant, daunting, delightful, and great. Did I mention that this may very well be their first recorded effort? Holy SHIT! More please! Sorry I misjudged your name, TD!