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LP
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DRUNKEN 130LP
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"Ever since Rocket From The Tombs gave way to Pere Ubu and The Dead Boys, Cleveland's been producing endless shots of adrenaline courtesy of the wildest, weirdest sounds around. Knowso may not have much sonically in common with their city's elder statesmen, but they're following in the same spiritual tradition, blasting away with a take on punk rock that's tense, spiky and powerful. Following on from their Look At The Chart 12" for California's premier trash-rock stable Neck Chop, and a 7" for Total Punk, Specialtronics Green Vision is their debut album - and as full-lengths go, it's a helluva first offering. Cuts like 'Calamine' echo the likes of Devo in their jerked-out fury, but whereas there's a whole raft of slopcore bands in recent years who've focused on the other-worldly side of Mothersbaugh and co., Knowso rub their angular tendencies against clenched-teeth riffage and a brutal sense of righteous outrage. The effect is somewhere in between Steve Albini's more pointed rackets, Black Flag in both 'weirdo freakout' and 'perfect slice of fury' modes, and (unexpectedly) even the screwy rhetoric of Welsh wonders Future Of The Left. They have a killer CV -- Knowso boast members of Cruelster, Perverts Again and Cloud Nothings among their line-up -- but still, this is a record that sounds everything and nothing like those bands, with a healthy number of bonus ingredients thrown in. 'Peaceful And Extinct' shows them at their smartarse best, bouncing between (hey, bear with me) tasteful riffology and sheer power, while 'Digital God' is just a heads-down thrill ride. But hey, it's a record full of surprises and wonder, like ice cream topped with barbed wire, and it's one of the best things you'll hear all year. Insert your own 'think so? I knowso' joke here; I'd write one myself but I'm too busy putting this on repeat play for the rest of forever." --Will Fitzpatrick
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LP
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DRUNKEN 140LP
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All caught up with last 2020's blast of herky-jerky darkness from Knowso? Don't get too comfy, now -- nine months later, they're back with another eight hits of visceral smarts and discombobulating fury. Sounding, as ever, like Big Black firing pellets of snot at their Cleveland forebears Devo, Rare Auld Trip/Psychological Garden finds them picking up where they left off with Specialtronics Green Vision (DRUNKEN 130LP). This being the best part of a year on from that excellent debut, though, they sound wiser, snarkier and more pissed off than ever before -- good news all round, then. Opener "Boredom In The Valley" reintroduces their signature tricks but feels more focused; a sub-two minute blast of staggered beats powered by the gnarliest-sounding bass this side of Bob Weston, and a disaffected vocal styling that you'd be tempted to call nihilist if you couldn't sense the number of fucks given beneath the impassive facade. They pick up the pace with "Staring At The Spiral", which almost sounds like the Buzzcocks unravelling at the seams while a Vogon watches on, before crashing into the smash'n'grab antics of "The Plants" -- one of the record's clear highlights and a frantic, dizzying trip. Along the way are enough bon mots and smartarse quips too make you wonder if they're taking this as seriously as they should. Let's not spoil the highlights in advance, but if you're already on board with Knowso, you'll know they're simultaneously utterly hilarious and unquestionably, deadly serious. "I could never be friends with a fucker such as you," they snarl disgustedly on another of the record's instant classics, but by this point you'll already have given your heart over to this most delirious of post-punk/noise-rock hybrids. As the closing cacophony of voices on "4th Wonder" will no doubt drive into your brain with overwhelming force, Rare Auld Trip/Psychological Garden (you pays your money and you takes your choice with the title, presumably) is not to be missed.
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