The Safety Fire, "Mouth of Swords"
Mouth of swords. Arms of pikes. Feet of daggers. Butt of warhammers.
Couch Slut, "All The Way Down"
We're big Couch Slut fans here at Five Songs. The torch of grimy NYC noise rock is ably carried forward by this band, who cheerfully (?) make their music as grim and churning as they can. But it's not artless filth, there's an intentionality to the noise that charms me. Charms me? Well, I'll go with it.
Cop Shoot Cop, "Discount Rebellion"
Yeah! Old NYC noise rock! Although CSC were more melodic at times than some of their peers (looking at you, Unsane), this again has that same grittiness inflecting the proceedings. This comes from their 1991 classic White Noise, which was one of the records that set me on the path to loving noise rock. I noticed that this record was on the same label as the recent Foetus record, Male, and that it was also in the section of the record store that they put quality new releases on. I took a whack at it, and loved it instantly.
Devo, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
In some ways, this cover of the Rolling Stones tune might be the best expression of Devo's cracked worldview and approach to rock music. There are enough elements in here that evoke the original that it's recognizable, but otherwise it's had a complete personality transplant and it's very much its own thing.
Dressed In Streams, "History Vanishes"
Y'all wanted ten minutes of black metal, right? This is from a small label, Colloquial Sound Recording, who concentrate on a super popular niche: casette-only releases of black metal. (They're also available digitally on Bandcamp.) Run by a guy who is also in a number of the bands, he knows what he likes and puts it out. This is pretty good stuff, and there are a number of moments in here (like around 5:41) where it crosses far enough towards the shoegaze barrier that it's almost pretty. Well, to me, anyway.