Self-Made Mess

Recording information: Mona Lisa's Morganville, NJ.
Photographer: Erik Zimmerman.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Josh English; Will Bartlett; James Bransford.
Though few outside of Boston know it, that city has a rich tradition in great, gripping post-punk. Though the recent reissues of two of the scene's founding artists, La Peste and Mission of Burma, should enlighten some, it's the post-hardcore bands who sprung up around them, from Proletariat to (later) Sorry, who come to mind listening to this taut Beantown trio. Great singer Josh English has a voice as thick and raw as the Clash's Joe Strummer; Black Flag's second singer, Ron Reyes; Scream's Pete Stahl; and Fugazi's duo of Guy Picciotto and Ian MacKaye, and at times his voice is so raw as he scream/shouts/seethes/gurgles, it seems as if he's losing it. Behind this howling mad dog is a well-produced sound that takes in hints of the Ruts by way of Fugazi's jerky-rhythm mastery and the quiet, simmering undercurrent of held-back rage that is this genre at its stripped down best. Far from a mess, Six Going on Seven is a pretty impressive sturm and clang. ~ Jack Rabid