MONA CLAY Heretic (self-released)





My first thought was that I am unqualified to review this, as it starts out with relatively standard emo-sounding bedroom... emo. Like, I think I liked a Cursive record one time, but that probably doesn't have much to do with anything. 

The front and center element here is that angsty teen voice, complete with all these lyrics, you know. This is present basically throughout. Some songs contain samples of couples arguing. There's even a Millennial Whoop, which is officially a known allergen, bumping around in there somewhere. The other feature I recognize is that distinctly indie-emo verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown yell-talking that's really quite serious and earnest, and why don't you understand? And so on. 

But as the tape goes on, I start wondering who this is really meant for. Don't get me wrong, I'm concerned that I still may not have properly emphasized how strongly the adolescent emo waves just roll off this thing. On the other hand, there is everything else. The guitar tuning ranges from kinda wobbly to almost dissonant, with some shoegaze-esque layering showing up in places. The textures and mixing help out a bunch. I would even believe there was a Sonic Youth influence happening to some degree, especially in the last song, 'The Soul of a Giant', which I actually quite like. And wouldn't you know it, later recordings on Bandcamp sound even closer to the semi art-damaged indie rock side of things. You might want your EpiPen handy for this one, though.



-ckwilhex