October All Over - Vital Organs
[Unlabel]

"October All Over like being a live band, live is where it’s at; we will play wherever we are needed”. This statement, from the band’s biography, tells you all you need to know about this group. Well, not quite! They’re a four-piece (3 guys, 1 gal), they hail from London, “Vital Organs” is their third release and they mix stop-start post-hardcore dynamics with accelerated guitars and skewered, noisy, melodic choruses.

This is a gritty, raw and visceral sound. The sort that, when you enter a venue while the support act is midway through a set, grabs you by the throat and pins you against the wall with its sheer force. Driven by bass with a bottom end heavier than an elephant and tied together by barbed riffs and bulldozing percussion, the likes of “Nightwatchman” is about a dirty as it gets, with its megaphone vocal delivery and piercing feedback.

The production here, though, isn’t the greatest; it’s either rather muddy or a bit swirly, much like the effect one may experience from an outdoor festival’s PA system. But there’s no denying the power of tracks like the metallic-tinged “Friends in High Places”, the last couple of minutes coming across like the Pixies jamming with Motorhead. “Going Dutch” hammers home The Pixies comparisons, with bassist Sophie Haines adopting the Kim Deal role, adding a little serenity amidst the fury, with here backing vocals.

Elsewhere, the band displays a super handling of melody on a number of tracks, notably the outstanding “Change The Locks”, which develops from an agitated punk number into more epic territories, and the fast and furious “Tower of Babel”. But this is all offset by a vitriolic delivery that gives this quartet their edge, a desirable element of danger.

Tracklisting

1.Going Dutch
2.Friends In High Places
3.Nightwatchman
4.Tower Of Babel
5.Split The Atom Bomb
6.Fritz Lang
7.Three Witches
8.Change The Locks