Atsome point, someone is going to have to put an end to all of this. Whenit seems every new band forming is an experimental two piece that runeverything through a phalanx of distortion pedals, I have to step backand take a deep breath. It's not that I don't care for noise-rock orhave no patience for amateurism; in fact, they're two items I greatlyenjoy. But every once in a while, a record comes along that forces meto call my predilection for the two into question. This is,unfortunately, just such a record.Itdoesn’t take a rocket scientist or any real close listen to realizethat I’ve Visited the Island of Jocks and Jazz is a noisy,incomprehensible mess. Unfortunately, this doesn’t translateinto anything that I would call “bracing” either. Drums are thwacked,guitars are run through with enough ear-splitting distortion so as torender them nearly meaningless, and vocals are hardly the point. Think early Jesus and Mary Chain with absolutely no pophooks. I’m all for noise, and count myself a big fan of Load’s releasesin the past, but The Hospitals simply renders all their noise meaningless.
Instead of being a challenging or even intimidating approach, The Hospitalssimply water down their songs with so much distortion they sound likeglobs day old mayonnaise–bland and not very good. Poorly playedsaxophones appear on “Boom Bap Biff,” not so much providing that songwith any sort of saving grace but at least giving the listenersomething else to hate. “Moving/Shaking” comes close to approaching thenihilistic tone of early No-Wave pioneers Mars and Teenage Jesus andthe Jerks, which makes the song less of an endurance test then theothers. “Jocks and Jazz” is the only song that seems to find anappropriate pulse and it thrusts and flails through its 1:30 runningtime.
The biggest complaint that can be lobbed here is that the albumis on auto pilot 95% of the time. For a genre where a lack of technicalproficiency can be easily made up by energy (see early Black Dice), NedMeiners and Adam Stonehouse both seem content to just see all thelevels in the red and leave it at that. Obviously, kids in the Americannoise rock scene will probably shit themselves over this. I won’t saythat Hospitals don’t have it in them to become something far greaterthan I’ve Visited the Island of Jocks and Jazz attempts to hint at, butuntil then, I think I’ll take a pass.
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