by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
In case you weren’t paying attention, Austin’s Exhalants released one of the year’s best noise rock albums with their self-titled debut back in August. The trio sound is both nuanced and rabid, lashing out with destructive tendencies but easily digestible, imagine something like the unholy three-headed stepchild of Unwound, Tar, and Big Black. It’s a debut that deserves praise beyond those with their ears to the ground, an album too gotdamn loud to be kept quiet. Forming from the ashes of the much beloved Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Exhalants pick up where the former’s dusty noise punk left off and runs wild with it, decimating eardrums and perception all the same.
On an album that never lets up from it’s gripping sludge and distorted pummel, “Punishers” is a stand-out in a flurry of stand-outs thanks to it’s patience. The song uses empty space to create depth in their attack, with a sordid groove and mangled guitars finding their own room to wander. Even with moments carved out between the feedback, “Punishers” remains dense and abrasive, each member thudding in time with the muddy pulse and ferocious drums; Steve Pike’s dry shouts in command of Exhalants’ rusty scorn. The band’s video for the song is a black and white collage of sorts, capturing both performance and gentrification in motion with high rises constructed in flickers and chaotic flashes.
The band are touring in November with Pinko. Complete dates and video premiere below.
TOUR DATES:
11/02 - Austin, TX @ Beerland
11/03 - San Antonio, TX @ Limelight
11/08 - Houston, TX @ Leon’s Lounge
11/09 - New Orleans, LA @ Bank St. Bar
11/10 - Birmingham, AL @ Saturn Bar
11/11 - Athens, GA @ HI-Lo Lounge
11/12 - Nashville, TN @ East Room
11/13 - Kalamazoo, MI @ House show
11/14 - Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
11/15 - Kansas City, MO @ Roller Dog
11/16 - Denton, TX @ Space Station