Here’s what I don’t know: who the hell this band is. There’s the Watch It Burn that did a split with Altaira a few years back. They were from Portland and sounded like a rough-hewn Broadway Calls. Then wasn’t there a band on Chunksaah with the same name? Then there’s these guys—there’s virtually no information accompanying this record, except for the fact that the label’s from Wisconsin and the songs were recorded in October of 1998. Watch It Burn!: men of mystery. Here’s what I do know: they’re playing some mean and ugly hardcore laced with feedback and propped up by a ton of tempo changes in every song. They kind of sound like that Swedish band Last Match, and have the same propensity for dragging things out a tad longer than they need to. When they keep things fast and lock into a groove, it’s good stuff, but too much of is played sloooow, in an attempt to sound punishing (see “Ground Hemlock Lake,” which takes up the majority of the B side.) Instead, it just allows my mind to wander elsewhere. No lyrics whatsoever (though they do have a song called “Earthday Crisis”) and limited to 300. Lastly, the label must be giving the post office a spiritual hard-on with this one: the sleeve itself weighs more than most double LPs.
–keith (Finger On The Dutendoo)