Meat Wave – ‘Brother’

By Sarah Scanlon

The name of this band might make you cringe, but Chicago’s Meat Wave plays a kind of music that’s gross in a different way. It’s rough lo-fi punk, almost edging into that raw garage territory, that’s frantic and fun and a sound perfect for Chicago. Though Meat Wave’s new EP, ‘Brother’ is only seven songs long, it jams some wild sounds into its 17 minutes.

‘Brother’ may be over before you know it, but each track flows so smoothly into the next that you could listen to it a few times in a row just to make sure you’re catching all the intricacies. It’s lo-fi, but reminds the listener of the post-punk sound of bands like Hot Snakes and Marked Men, with a little of that garage heat so necessary in a cold Chicago winter.

The album opener and title track, ‘Brother,’ is under two minutes long, an old song from their self-titled record released in 2012, but it’s the perfect banger to kick off the record. One other track, ‘It’s Not Alright,’ will sound familiar to listeners who’ve checked out Meat Wave’s earlier work. The EP also includes four new tracks and a cover of Wipers’ ‘Mystery.’

Third track ‘Sunlight’ is a good example of why Meat Wave are so well received. When the vocals kick in over the slightly abrasive guitar, they are both perfectly snarly and bratty in the right places over a thumping drumbeat, and it’s a good combination. Fans of lo-fi bands like Bad Sports as well as punk fans looking for an introduction to a rawer sound would do well to check out ‘Brother.’ Though they’re streaming one track from the EP for free (‘Sham King’) on their bandcamp now (http://meatwavechicago.bandcamp.com/album/brother), the EP is slated for a physical release on vinyl by Brace Yourself Records on January 19, and the band is set to play Ian’s Party in Chicago on New Year’s.

SARAH SCANLON

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