Thursday, December 21, 2023

The 1982 Listening Post - Toiling Midgets - Sea of Unrest

 Reviewed by Allen Lulu

Released: 1982 Toiling Midgets Sea Of Unrest Genre: Post-Things Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Highlights: All The Girls Cry This is some heavy sludge music that calls to mind, early on, believe it or not, “You’re So Physical” by Adam and the Ants. Now the thing about early Adam is that they were very post-punk. Influenced at first by art school and the Sex Pistols. So, when I heard the plodding metal and wailing vocals against the deep, almost grungy Vox warbling “Don’tcha lie to me!” My mind went straight to that early Adam song, which I’ve seen him perform live as though it’s a declaration of just how “PUNK” he always was. From there, this thing goes into strange directions incorporating all sorts of instrumentation from acoustic guitars, like buskers from Hell to clashing electric feedback. It’s nothing short of amazing in it’s mind bending, depressing way. And! The “band” (really a collective now, yes?) is still doing stuff. And you can buy this album on vinyl along with a whole shit ton of others on their band camp page and I, for one, am thrilled that exists. These guys are poppy compared to, say Swans, but that’s just because I find them slightly more accessible. But, really, when we are talking about experimental music for Heroin addicts, at this point I’m just picking nits.

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