LISHON
INNERVENUS
LINKS:
First impressions are everything and the lead song, “Sludgepump”, on Lishon doesn’t put Reducer in a great light. I understand that there is supposed to be a degree of sloppiness in punk music, but this trio strays way far from center. The drum-work has a large part to do with it. Chris Pratt is the drummer, who is also one of the singers, which might be the problem. Very few people play the drums and sing lead, because it’s difficult and it’s apparent from this song that Pratt has yet to master this dual role.
When the guitars come in after the intro, the situation worsens. The slow-fast dynamics throw everything off that much more and everything eventually converges into a directionless wall of sound.
Coming to the third track, “Blood, Guts + Octane”, was like getting to Wednesday, you know freedom isn’t that far away anymore. And the intro shows promise. It’s reminiscent of “Gemini” from Slayer’s Undisputed Attitude. Unfortunately, it goes down hill from there. The drum-work still leaves much to be desired, but the poor production quality makes it barely inaudible, so most of what you hear is a huge angry riff accompanied by scowling vocals.
Reducer’s InnerVenus debut, surprisingly, ends on a good note. The production quality on “Sonic Reducer” isn’t half-bad, which allows you to hear that Pratt’s become more comfortable in his role. The singing is in key and on-time -- his vocals throughout Lishon are actually half-decent. And his drumming has improved. It’s not the most creative drum-work, but at least he’s maintaining the beat. The guitar-work is unimaginative too, but the riff on “Sonic Reducer” is groovin’ enough to make this last song bearable.
I’m not impressed by Lishon. Before Reducer decides to release a full-length album, the band should think of a few things: first and foremost, the drummer/lead vocalist concept, (is this a good idea?),\; modifying the production quality so that their sound is beefier, but also cleaner; more creative axe-wor (much of it on Lishon drags); and more interesting lyrics. I haven’t discussed the lyrics at all, but much work is needed in this department as well.
There is hope for this band though. “Sonic Reducer” (a cover) is an indication that they can produce decent music. One can only hope that Reducer takes note of that and releases an LP that’s worthy of their hype.
----Eric
V. White