Slimy Member, Ugly Songs for Ugly People (Drunken Sailor; Occult Whispers)
“depression/is so real/consuming my brain”
Slimy Member is a four-piece based out of Dallas, Texas. Named for a Rudimentary Peni song, the band has been active since 2013, having previously released a demo and an EP. New LP, Ugly Songs for Ugly People, serves as their debut, full-length release.
On Ugly, Slimy Member comes across to these (aging, constantly ringing) ears very much of a part with 80s punk/hardcore – hell, there’s even a two-fer song (“Bomb Blast/Age Old Time”), how 80s hc is that? Their sound incorporates not only the urgent anger of bands like RP and The Exploited, but also those who, like TSOL (check the galloping bassline on “Age Old Time” and the morbid imagery of “A Sight to Behold”), Christian Death and current fellow travelers like Institute and Anasazi, cloak their abrasions in goth atmospherics. Heavily reverbed vocals and flanged guitars amplify an almost suffocating tone of angst, stress and tension, a tension and energy that the band carry all the way through the fantastic closer, “Always the Victim”. It’s a thrilling reminder of just how exuberantly visceral these sounds were, are, and can be.
Ugly Songs for Ugly People is out now, via Drunken Sailor (in the UK) and soon via Occult Whispers (in the US). You can also snap up a digital copy through the Slimy Member bandcamp page while you check out their earlier releases. The band is on tour soon for you lucky chucks on the west coast of the USofA – dates here.
Highlights include: “Oceanic Feeling”, “Bomb Blast/Age Old Time”, “Always the Victim”.