I find a certain appeal to brevity in music. There is something admirable about being able to express yourself in a concise manner, saying what you want to say and not overextending your welcome. Hardcore punk is a genre that is often associated with brevity, where most of the songs are short and pass with blazing intensity.
One of my favorite hardcore punk bands from the past few years is Denver, Colorado’s Cadaver Dog. While I call it a band, it is the work of one man, James Trejo, who writes and plays all of the instruments on the band's recordings. Cadaver Dog does not have a large discography, with one full length record and two EPs. Their full length record, Dying Breed, came out in 2018 and fits 15 songs into 11 minutes. Dying Breed seethes with negativity, with Trejo expressing his contempt for everyone and everything. This is made very clear on the song “Repulsed,” where Trejo screams about his disgust in everyone:
“Fucking repulsed by everyone around me.
Bloodthirsty visions of the enemy.
Jaded, empty, there's nothing left.
I'll see all of your faces at the end of a bat.
Hit them hard.
Show no sympathy.
Hit them hard.
Make them fucking see.
Fucking repulsed by everyone around me.
Bloodthirsty visions of the enemy.
Jaded, empty, there's nothing left.
I'll see all of your faces at the end of a bat.
Hit them hard.
Show no sympathy.
Hit them hard.
Make them fucking see.
Taste my fucking ruthless side.
Watch them suffer, watch them bleed out dry.”
If you are a fan of hardcore punk, Cadaver Dog is essential listening.
Buy Cadaver Dog’s music here.
Brief blasts of emotion! When other bands (outside the punk genre) release a short track as compared to their typical track lengths, it is always interested to figure out why it's different. A lot of times they are instrumentals, interludes, intros/outtros, but sometimes not. Sometimes I think they are fragments of potential songs where the artists found the composition to be complete "as is" rather than trying to elongate it, or outright abandon it.
ReplyDeleteHave you listened to Guided by Voices? Robert Pollard (singer/songwriter for the band) writes tons and tons of songs, and all of them are extremely short. They feel a little like demos. It is as if Pollard has no desire to polish anything and would rather just write a new song.
Delete