by Sarah Knoll
The Brooklyn based rockers, Grim Streaker, just released their debut LP titled No Vision. The group have played countless shows in the Brooklyn and NYC area, developing a fantastic performance energy that has been capsulated into the nine tracks of No Vision. With influences stemming from post-rock, punk, goth, and new-wave, the band have certainly carved out their own sound.
The first track “A.D.D.” is an absolute banger. Lead singer Amelia Bushell’s vocals howl with distorted effects over them. Her voice is reminiscent of Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna, raging and packed with energy. The track is simplistic in its composition. The guitar work is catchy but is rough enough around the edges to be called punk. The lyrics detail as the track alludes to, the difficulties of dealing with A.D.D. and not being able to focus on one thing. “A.D.D.” sets the album up for a hay ride of noisy and intense instrumentals backed by an incredible voice and lyricism.
Tracks like “Today In New York” and “Snakes” bring forth the full sound of Grim Streaker. Heavy guitars that fight against the distortion and delay effects are signature to the punk and post-punk attitude of these tracks. The fast tempo and rough vocals help to anchor the tracks and keep the momentum going. The band’s simplicity in their rhythms are what make the tracks so easy to listen to, but yet the effects and attitude they put into the songs are what truly make them punk songs. Sometimes to have great music, you don’t need to have things overly complex, and that is what Grim Streaker do so well on No Vision. The simplicity of the raw emotion backed by good riffs and a sprinkle of edginess are what makes these tracks great.
No Vision is chock-full of bangers. Grim Streaker absolutely kill it on this record, and I’m very excited to see where they go next.