Hair Police - "Obedience Cuts"

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I should get something up. I've been rather busy lately, but there are some new developments... I recently obtained a rare Hair Police record, entitled, "Obedience Cuts." The release I have is from their 2006 European tour (of which only 40 were made), and comes with a CD remix called "Obedience Killed" as well as a live DVD. It's a re-release, but I felt it was worth the cost due to it's rarity and the extra media included. I haven't had a chance to listen to or watch either the CD or the DVD, but I have had the opportunity to listen through the LP once -- and I was not disappointed.

That's the LP cover, and the music lives up to the cover art. The first track starts with a punch in the face: pure decadence, decay, and dissection of distorted noise and melted vocals layered over-top of apocalyptic, end-of-life-as-we-know-it drumming. I remember listening to this record a few years ago and not being that impressed, but my musical tastes were rather rudimentary back then. Listening to the record now, I'm blown away. This is a "must-have" in my collection now. I can't wait to see the live DVD, as I have heard that their live shows are more intense and destructive than any of their recordings.

Before getting this record, I had already bought a copy of Hair Police's "Constantly Terrified" LP, but was bored with that. It seems that the band had moved into a more nuanced noise/experimental musical path, and I felt it lacked the intensity of "Obedience Cuts." Without the noisy, hard-hitting drumming, I just wasn't into it as much. Sort of what happened with Black Dice -- that band's early Gravity Records releases were pure noise rock of an extremely violent and abrasive nature, but their later material moved into this strange experimental/random sounds approach that lacked the initial intensity of their early work. I suspect that much of the Hair Police's later material will be more like "Constantly Terrified," and I will probably refrain from collecting any more of the band -- unless I'm able to hear something in advance of purchasing it.

I also obtained a copy of Sightings' first LP on Load Records. As soon as I get a chance to listen through, I'll post what I think about it.