WHO: Scottie Henry (Guitar), Chris Day (Guitar), Cory Brandon (Vocals), Jake Schultz (Bass), Chris Raines (Drums)
WHERE YOU CAN FIND 'EM: Soundfest in Mobile, Ala. (2/28)
WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE: A wild fusion of hardcore sounds like Haste the Day and As I Lay Dying, with the melodic touches of MeWithoutYou and A Perfect Circle.
"Robots 3 Humans 0"
"Blueprints for Future Homes 2"
There are two things Norma Jean is well known for...
...being crazy (in both music and on stage antics) and having a dark sound. And while the hardcore band is as chaotic as ever on their latest album, The Anti-Mother finds them exploring more melody and new sounds, relying less and less on their influences while continuing to develop a genre-bending style all their own.
The backdrop for The Anti-Mother is colored with line-up changes, a new producer, and some personal baggage, making for their most personal release yet. However, "emotional" is no antonym to the chaotic, massively hardcore sound that Norma Jean is known for. Opening track "Vipers, Snakes, and Actors" doesn't waist any time getting into the gritty mess of wild guitars and brutal screams. In true Norma Jean style, it feels like the song will fall apart at any moment, yet they manage to keep it together and make sense of it all.
Tracks like "Self Employed Chemist" and "Robots 3 Humans 0" show off Norma Jean's relatively new sense of melody with a slight tint of southern rock. Though they experimented with melody on previous albums, none took the shape of these tracks with their brutal, throat-tearing vocal lines matched to painfully honest lyrics. A guest appearance by Deftones singer/guitarist Chino Moreno on "Surrender Your Sons" makes for a stand-out with its melody, as Moreno's voice and musical ideas create the beautiful greenery over Norma Jean's wall of sound.
Never mind that lead singer Cory Brandan colors these tracks with screams or singing—the dark tone, disparity, and confusion play in the forefront of The Anti-Mother. In a recent interview, Brandan takes blame for the failure of his marriage earlier this year, right around the time the band began writing the album. Some lyrics that emerged from that could no doubt only be written by someone in depths of such an ugly situation: "You won't leave the way you came/And now no more blood will be shed/We will burn for this/We will both of us burn." Yet while most of the lyrical content fits with that tone of despair, the album still closes with spiritual hope and surrender: "I need to be saved/Pick me up and I'll find my way back home I swear."
The Anti-Mother serves as another new creation for Norma Jean, proof that they are consistently growing as a band. They remain a group not consumed with fitting a mold, but with breaking out of every genre or stereotype placed in front of them. By adding melody, some Southern rock, guest appearances, and uncoated emotion, Norma Jean remains on the cutting edge of the hardcore scene.
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: THE DEAR HUNTER CLICK PIC FOR INTERVIEW
September Concert Calendar
Manhattan/Brooklyn
9/04: Mavado / Bounty Killer / Beenie Man /
Serani @ Hammerstein Ballroom
9/06: Benny Page / LionDub / Starkey
@ Public Assembly: BK
9/06: Irie Jamboree @ York College: Jamaica
9/08: Rubblebucket @ Brooklyn Bowl: BK
9/08: The Roots @ Highline Ballroom
9/11: John Brown's Body / The Black Seeds
@ Bowery Ballroom
9/12: Bill Laswell Presents: Method of Defiance
@ Bowery Ballroom
9/17: Face To Face / Pegboy @ Gramercy Theatre
9/18: Groundation @ BB King Blues Club
9/18: Dub War / Mary Anne Hobbs @ Love
9/19: Skream / Benga / Drop The Lime @
Le Poisson Rouge
9/20: Thursday @ Bowery Ballroom
9/22: Face To Face / Pegboy @ Irving Plaza
9/25: The Pimps Of Joytime @ Brooklyn Bowl: BK
9/26: Dub Trio @ Knitting Factory: BK
9/26: Brothers Past @ Bowery Ballroom
9/27: Sunny Day Real Estate @ Terminal 5
New Jersey
9/04: Last Days Of Empire / The Casting Out / Chambers /
Stay Gold @ Court Tavern: New Brunswick
9/09: The Janks / Magic Hat #9 Party @
The Saint: Asbury Park
9/11: Westbound Train / Hub City Stompers @
Asbury Lanes: Asbury Park
9/18: Youth Brigade / The Casualties @ Asbury Lanes:
Asbury Park
9/20: Little Joy @ Maxwell's: Hoboken
9/24: Rorschach @ Asbury Lanes: Asbury Park
Philadelphia & PA.
9/04: Rubblebucket @ World Cafe Live
9/05: Dopapod / Turkuaz / Josh Phillips @ The Fire
9/18: Immortal Technique @ Trocadero
9/18: Thursday @ First Unitarian Church
9/19: Mary Anne Hobbs @ SubDivision: Pittsburgh
9/20: Face To Face @ Trocadero
9/21: Face To Face @ Mr. Smalls: Pittsburgh
9/30: Immortal Technique @ Altar Bar: Pittsburgh
9/30: Mike Gordon @ Mr. Smalls: Pittsburgh
Washington DC.
9/05: !!! / Pivot @ Black Cat
9/06: DJ Jerome Baker III / DJ Tom Lim @ Studio 10
9/08: Motorhead @ 9:30 Club
9/17: Yo La Tengo @ 9:30 Club
9/25: Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ 9:30 Club
9/29: BLK JKS / Laughing Man @ Black Cat
9/30: Sunny Day Real Estate @ 9:30 Club
Baltimore & MD.
9/04: Ruiner / Pulling Teeth / Sick Fix @
Talking Head Club
9/06: Medeski Martin & Wood / Karl Denson's
Tiny Universe/ Dumpstaphunk / Traffic Jam @ Sonar
9/08: Down / Melvins @ Sonar
9/10: Akron/Family @ Talking Head Club
9/11: Naked Raygun / Paint It Black / Shot Baker
@ Ottobar
9/16: Mos Def / Talib Kweli @ Sonar
9/17: Matt and Kim / Amanda Blank @ Sonar
9/18: Busdriver / Mickey Free @ Talking Head Club
9/19: Face To Face / Pegboy @ Sonar
9/19: Immortal Technique @ Recher Theatre
9/20: Appomattox @ Talking Head Club
9/21: People Under The Stairs @ Ottobar
9/25: Ponytail / Crazy Dreams Band @ Ottobar
Add your comments