The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster - 'Horse Of The Dog' (No Death)
4/5
By: Toby L
Somewhere between Antifolk, The New Rock 'N' Roll and the return of strumming, whimsical acoustic songsmiths, there must have been a spin-off, twisted-punk revival. And, if there was, then the dark, churning riffs, skulls on the sleeve-artwork and vocals that recall Jim Morrison during a horrifyingly bad trip of The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster should enable the Brighton quintet to take to the trophy as heads of such a cause.
Produced by Paul Tipler, the man behind Idlewild's most vitriolic and finest album 'Hope Is Important', all ten tracks on this most vehemently of demonic debut-releases are the bleakest selection of spook-anthems to arise since Alice Cooper first reared his particularly unpleasant mug (with the added bonus that all uber-evil hymns are existent without the amusing theatrics). From the most immediate number, the raucous opener 'Celebrate Your Mother', to the bouncy-boom of 'Chicken', bass-blast of 'Charge The Guns', where we're informed to 'fight like a man' and that 'you're gonna die', even the at-first-thought welcoming sound of a track entitled 'Fishfingers' proves to be similarly destructive.
What's most surprising, however, is that there's no one mind of domineering evilness over the rest of the other members, almost every character within the band finding a chance to pen a tune of their choice at some instance; incidentally, it's lead-guitarist Andy Huxley that wins the gong for the most compositions present herein - a man capable of creating such spiralling growlers as 'Team Meat' and deeply-brooding, former limited-edition single, 'Morning Has Broken' in just the same sitting. Hell, by the time you reach their final number, 'Presidential Wave', a slowly-building, veritable sonic-boom to the senses in every form possible, you'd best grab yourself a copy of your nearest sacred-text to save your soul from being banished to the pits of the devil's palace forever-more. And the whole experience only lasted 25 minutes.
So, whilst not the most accessible of first ever records created by a rising bunch of newcomers, 'Horse Of The Dog' is a thrilling insight into the disturbing morbidity of a band that can only be bettered when witnessed live for full, ear-pounding effect. But, 'til they next roll into town, buy the record, wear the T-shirt, and terrorise your locals with the loudest record of 2002.
Artists in this article: The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
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