If there is one thing that I’ve learned on the many decades that I have (some how!) managed to stay alive on this island Earth, is that there is a time and a place for loud, ugly and abrasive music. And that time and place is right god damned now!
Black Market Kidney Surgeon are a Tennessee crust punk band very much in the fashion of Warthog or Iskra. On their self-titled EP, the band delivers infected inflections of crud-covered, scrapping grooves and riffs that harbor deadly levels of antibiotic-resistant feedback, all with a brooding, surely swagger comparable to Bad Breeding half-in-the-bag and on a bender. It’s fast, hyperactive and unforgiving listen that will hardly let you catch your breath between tracks.
The appropriately titled “Ice Bath” kicks things off by putting a boot squarely in the middle of your sternum, knocking you into the deep end of a rhythm that will snap at your face and limbs like it was infested with crocodiles. “Razor Sharp” will floss the space between your ears with a sprig of barbed wire chords, while “Heretical Voices” sounds like a full-on mental breakdown.
Finally, the Bad Breeding comparisons become relevant again during the inhospitable plunge of closer “Wired Shut,” which drops in and out of its main melody like it was dunking your head in and out of a toilet bowl in a rest stop bathroom, in what is justified as a shake down for money, but you and the band both know is actually just for their amusement.
Your HMO is probably not going to cover any loss due to injury while listening to this album, but if you are in the market for a total thrashing, then look no further.
You can buy and stream Black Market Kidney Surgeon’s Self-titled below via Bandcamp:
Get this album on cassette here.
