Wednesday, May 1, 2013

0 SHOW PREVIEW: Grenades (Record Release) | Smooth Sailing | Serial Hawk | Mercy Ties



Have you ever heard the phrase, “Patience is a virtue not of the wicked, but of the chaste?” No? Maybe it's because I just made that shit up (unless some puritan asshole actually did say that – I'm not gonna google it). It's kinda true though! The problem is, not a one of us prides ourselves on chastity, and unfortunately, sometimes it does take a little patience for us wicked folk to finally get a fix of what we are truly craving. It's why we drink so heavily.  Well, it is with utmost relief that I can say that the debut album from perennial SRG faves, Grenades, Heaven is Empty, is finally seeing the light of day next week, thanks to Red Cobra Records. This has been a long time coming, and thankfully the release show has been programmed to be the cathartic orgasm deserved of such an affair.  It'll be a reason to drink heavily!

But before going into the excellent full-length that those boys recorded with Christiaan Morris at the Red Room, there is much to say about the bands they have chosen to help launch it at The Comet on Friday.

To be perfectly blunt, I think that some may have poo-pooed Smooth Sailing over the years. It could be their passively ironic name, which only belies their vicious live show and the moving rise and fall of their pummeling metal-meets-post-whatever etudes. It could be their relative youth, seeing as they are all fit, young men – handsome and charming in a way that most bands seemingly strive not to be. They all have beards now, folks; don't write them off! It could be their live, wall-of-motherfuck extravagance, which could bring to light the insecurities in lesser bands... Actually, they don't give a shit. Smooth Sailing will be doing what they have been doing so goddamn well for the last four years. What they got, they got down, and lo! they are bringing a couple new tunes to this special occasion.

That alone is worth celebrating, but fellow supporters, Serial Hawk, are giving what has become a rare performance as well. Have you ever seen a drummer crack his kick pedal in half? Not at a joint, or at the mallet, but the actual foot plate? Serial Hawk has done this live. And this was only in effort to meet the sheer sonic intensity of the massive rigs these guys play their bowel-slumping riffs through. Why go see stadium shows, with, eh, maybe 1.5x the wattage that these guys crank out of a phalanx of cabs in a room with a cap of 200? Don't worry, they only turn up to 10.5, if you're not wearing plugs.

Then there's Mercy Ties, who shared sides of Grenades' first split and have kept up their end of the bargain by maintaining the same frenetic rage spilt out back then. It feels strange to refer to these guys as “openers” as this whole bill is as solid front-to-back as it would be back-to-front. But this all leads me back to the Grenades album...

It fucking slays.  Buy a copy -- you won't be disappointed.

-- Drunkenly scribed by Jake Weller.  Soberly posted by Nik Christofferson

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