by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
There are a lot of bands out there who play loud for the sake of playing loud. It’s been said that everything sounds better with distortion. Then there is Exhalants, the Austin trio who have made deafening noise into an art form, the band embracing dusty and piercing tonality with a studied brilliance. Sure, they have big amps. Sure, those amps are turned to a feverish decibel. The sonic assault however is what separates the band from the pack as they use their bludgeoning sound to create something vivid, something present, and for those of us who find bliss at great volumes, something serene.
Born from the ashes of the promising Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Exhalants began as a fresh start, free of any interpersonal demons or turmoil. It was a new headspace and a new beginning with a familiar kick-in-the-teeth sound. The trio of Steve (vocals/guitar), Bill (bass), and Tommy (drums) - who are not a formal bunch and prefer to keep it at a first name basis - wasted no time introducing their sound with 2017’s democore, a roughly recorded blast of furious noise punk, informed as much by bands like Cherubs and Shellac as they are Unwound and Sonic Youth. Even in their infancy the band showed the utmost promise, Steve’s exceptional contorted guitar lines and the band’s brutal rhythms slugging it out in lo-fi. There’s something special about their ability to create complex and forward thinking heavy music in a minimal format, and the band expanded on this with their self-titled debut. Released last year via Self Sabotage Records, the album was a Post-Trash favorite, refining the production of their demo and expanding their intensity into new directions of bent and blistering guitars and colossal low end.
Seeing the band live is an immersive experience similar to being swallowed whole and living out your existence somewhere within the belly of the beast. The band’s wall of sound isn’t all attack, it’s atmosphere, tension, and suspense, pushed by feedback, stampeding drums, and a sun-fried roar that’s as mesmerizing as it is dissonant. Any band can be loud or heavy, but Exhalants do it with such a dynamic approach, trading out relentless sludge for tangled and dizzying progressions and disfiguring them into something new.
For Post-Trash Volume Four, our latest charity compilation (with all proceeds benefiting RAICEStexas.org), we were delighted to receive “Hey Motherfucker,” a b-side from the band’s recent tour split with San Antonio’s Pinko. The song comes on like a riot, breaking down the door and rushing your senses, crashing in a wave of dense freaked out grooves. Like the unholy offspring of Drive Like Jehu and the Melvins, the song is primal but calculated, riding its overblown riffs and brute force straight into the sun, exploding on impact.
The band are heading out on a West Coast tour in May and in celebration will release …Trample The Cross Underfoot…, another tour tape consisting of four new songs and a pair of demos. In true Exhalants fashion, it’s another essential recording from out their practice shed, low in fidelity but absolutely rattling in tone and overt fury. The band continue to balance their unpredictable tidal like intensity much like the ocean itself, as gorgeous moments of calm lead to the deadliest of waves.
Check out “Hey Motherfucker,” …Trample The Cross Underfoot…, and the band’s tour dates below. Exhalants may not be a household name (unless your household is real awesome), but they are without a doubt one of the best noise rock bands in this weird and damaged country.
Tour Dates:
05/02 - AUSTIN, TX @ BEERLAND
05/03 - DENTON, TX @ J&J's *
05/04 - WICHITA, KS @ OAISIS WICHITA *$
05/05 - KANSAS CITY, MO @ FAREWELL TRANSMISSION *$
05/06 - ST. LOUIS, MO @ FOAM *
05/07 - CHICAGO, IL @ BURLINGTON *
05/08 - MILWAUKEE, WI @ QUARTERS *
05/09 - MINNIAPOLIS, MN @ MORTIMER
05/10 - OMAHA, NB @ BROTHERS LOUNGE *
05/11 - DENVER, CO @ NUDE CITY
05/12 - GRAND JUNCTION, CO @ COPEKA COFFEE
05/13 - SALT LAKE CITY, UT @ BEEHIVE
05/14 - BOISE, ID @ LIQUID LOUNGE
05/16 - PORTLAND, OR @ KENTON KLUB ^
05/17 - SEATTLE, WA @ BLACK LODGE ^
05/18 - VANCOUVER, BC @ BLACK LAB
05/21 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA @ THE KNOCKOUT
05/22 - SAN JOSE, CA @ THE RITZ
05/23 - LOS ANGELES, CA @ REC CENTER %
05/24 - SAN DIEGO, CA @ BLACK CAT %
05/25 - TUSCON, AZ @ WARD 6
05/26 - EL PASO, TX @ LOVEBUZZ
* w/ BULLS
$ w/ Bummer
^ w/ Marriage + Cancer
% w/ Sprain