bob.

....five months later....





The Means were a band that formed in 2001 in the city of Columbus Ohio....started by local hero and legend Brad Swiniarski formal;y of the band Bob City....he joined with other sloppy noise master Jason Fredrick of Spiveys finishing up the line up with Emily & Dave Allen formally of Bloody Matt Dillons....in two short years the band recorded three albums (Vil/Viol, Community Horse, and The Divine Right of The Means) tweaking and bettering their abrasive sound with each release

their name fits the music perfectly....its raw and mean....i first found out about them in 2002 while living in Baltimore....i remember coming back to Reno for a visit and going out with my friends Sean and Paul....i told them "you guys love Nirvana right?....this is what they wished they were!" by the end of the second track Paul looked at me and said "this is what Nirvana's older brother would sound like while they were playing Nazi interrogation"....a perfect description Paul
my album review is for their first album Vil/Viol....its much more aggressive and sloppier than their other two releases....and has definite moments of coked out experimentation

i don't think i could say it any better than this....this review is gonna be a little hard for me to express whats going since i cannot find anything but two songs from their second album on youtube....i did find a stream of the album which i'll post at the end but if you dig this i highly suggest sending me a pm and i'll send you a link to the full album....if you like short loud aggressive no holds bar rock n roll this album should be played loud and daily!

the opening track Heart starts with a simple distorted base line then jumps straight into assault....this is probably the only track (save the last one) that Jason seems to hold a little back on the vocals.....this is a great opener with just a small taste of what is to come

Primitive is where you see why they are called Means....straight into it....guteral music mixed with mean and straight forward lyrics....this is more than likely the best track on the album and has my favorite description of a woman ever
"she has my eyeballs as ear rings
she has my teeth as a necklace
she wore my guts for garters
thats all she wore
covered in me from head to floor"

What Went Wrong is probably the closest this band comes to punk rock....fast and Jason screams so intensely you can't understand a damn thing he says

the albums love ballad Charlize Theron sounds like its be performed by a group of murderous stalkers

"i think i know just what you need" says the sample that starts Rob Wheeler which then goes straight into a cacophony of bliss and slowly morphs into an almost bluesy middle and the back and straight for the jugular

starting to notice that most of these songs start with a short bass lead in....as is the case with Record Holders in the Blood Purge...i can't really describe this one....its fast loud and fucking awesome

here we go....a little guitar intro...I'm On is a little less screamy and a lot more structured....very blues and maybe Cramps influenced....still noisy as hell and with clever lyrics

Consider yourself a Hero...slow and brooding....lyrically intense and going in blast to the face from a shot gun but ending slowly and with a sense of despondency

R. Loxley is probably my favorite track on the album....just everything that is great about this band....when i said earlier about "coked out experimentation" it's all right here....the song itself is really only about 1 minute long then they go into a strange musical experiment

(t.p.) Massacre is more of the same just great fury filled noisy garage rock....with a little bit of fuzzy organs

All They Hide is the surprise on the album it's not anything like the rest of the album...actually its almost the polar opposite...slow and almost a real ballad with insightful lyrics....actually i feel it's a great closer for the album

you can listen and apparently download it here....although it is missing the final track for some reason.....again if you want the entire album just let me know and i'll send it to you

Free Music Archive: Means - Vil/Viol

__________________
A kiss is the beginning of cannibalism.

Reach out, pierce the fine fabric of the sheltering sky, take repose.