Lower Forms (Deluxe)

Lower Forms (Deluxe)

Though the 2011 album by Portland trio Rabbits came out on the boutique metal label Relapse Records, Lower Forms resonates with the same scuzzy, lo-fi mix heard on Rabbits' preceding recordings (described on their Facebook page as “punk-sludge-thrash-trash”). The feral “Burn, Sun, Burn” has guitars detuned so low that there’s no need for a bass. Guitarists Sethro and Booze go head-to-head with filthy distorted riffs blasting over the spastic rhythms of drummer KC. “A Tale of Tales” follows with a faster pace as Rabbits play the sort of unhinged sonic attack that recalls a time when the underground Pacific Northwest scene thrived in the days before Sub Pop released Nirvana’s Bleach. “Noise to Share” is a sonic temper tantrum encrusted in grime; it’s as if the band recorded the song on scratched tape while throwing dirt clods around the studio. Throughout Lower Forms, Sethro's and Booze’s twin vocal screams erupt like a young, double-tracked Gibby Haynes. There are some magic moments in “Duck, the Pigs” that sound as if Locust Abortion Technician–era Haynes were fronting Karp.

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