Superjoint
Caught Up In The Gears of Application
(Housecore Records)
Phil Anselmo put himself right back where he probably works best at as an artist; the focal point of a lot of rage, negative energy, and conflict between a very divided crew of people who love and hate his every single day of existence. It’s been nearly ten years since Anselmo returned from his self-imposed exile during the years following what happened in Texas on a December 8th that still hits way too close. He created a fine legacy for Down, and transcended years of negative energy to surface as some sort of vicious mystical guru, which served well for much of that decade, but the revolving door of Internet politics and media has sent him back to the gutter.
Superjoint is what I would call Phil’s infamous music. It’s a band that channels poison into music.
I’m not a racist and I do not approve of any belligerently racist conduct, but I have nothing but praise for Anselmo’s passion and extreme artistic credibility. The man has mastered practically every single temple of extreme music in under 30 years, seemingly rocked the boat with every living creature on earth, and still walks around with enough energy to do it for another three decades. The music scene is shaking everywhere this man goes, and while there may have seemed a globally united front in the media to absolutely destroy this man at least half a dozen times – he still sticks out like a fire breathing werewolf from the underworld every time he makes music.
Superjoint is not just an Anselmo band or pet project. It’s a brotherhood of dudes who know how to make jams that fit perfectly into a toxic hemisphere, churning out a sordid composition of psychedelic jazz fucked up with New Orleans hardcore, blues, and metal. To have this band’s creative mindset back together again after ten years is like a breath of energy that one might need during troubled times. In a way it’s a mind numbing off switch of break downs and sex music.
Caught Up In the Gears of Application is a complete meltdown of sonic rage and indestructible sludge energy. 38 minutes of noise completely packed with fantastic hardcore punching riffs and southern grooves. Each song delivers a wallop of the same toxic garage punk blues. Is there really anything else you can call this music? Although Anselmo is gaining in years, he can still put out those really heavy growls and shouts outbursts in cadence with a fucking punishing groove. I’m not really sure I’m ready to call Phil Anselmo a hardcore Superman, but he’s somewhere in the lineup for an iconic anti-hero.
Superjoint has never attempted to do anything with the spirit of virtuosos, but their music is certainly done with the purity of connoisseurs. The music slides through a discordant mania of Jimmy Bower, and Kevin Bond’s honkey tonk hardcore style delivers a concept so intriguing and unique that the concept of a bad Superjoint song simply doesn’t stick into my head, even though sometimes I feel like sometimes they’re hanging off of a cliff. The rhythm section on Caught Up In The Gears of Application forces its way through the juggernauts upstage and delivers a rapid series of punches like a Cajun boxer. Superjoint’s variety of hardcore can have a strenuous relationship with jazz, as in the midst of CUIGA’s storm of nihilism is the sexy gospel of New Orleans jazz.
Superjoint’s music is like a poison that you want to keep drinking, a spirit that doesn’t age and never heals – but it’ll kill time. There is creative genius in these guys, and that’s why I like Superjoint.
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