by Rebecca Satellite
There’s something in the water in Chicago, and I want what No Men’s having. The moody trio make something akin to doom-punk: sprawling, commanding vocals glide over a thick swamp of locked-down low end and fried-out fuzz, climbing and falling in headbang-worthy spurts. The group – Pursley, DB, and Eric (last names be damned) – have been raising the dead at home and on the road since 2015.
If “Sucker” is any indication of what’s to come, their new album, Hell Was Full So We Came Back, promises to be a worthy follow-up to 2016’s Dear God, Bring The Doom LP, replete with anthemic melodies and irrepressible attitude.
The video for “Sucker” is a darkly comic Western Gothic morality play (say that three times fast), as our witchy hero delivers a heavy dose of revenge to an oil baron responsible for environmental destruction. Lines like “I’m not impressed with your impression of a human being” are both scathing and satisfying. While the video has plenty of humorous details (e.g. the Baron dialing 666 for help, the Cowboy leaving pentagram-faced coins at the bar), the root of anger is grounded in these heavy times. While we may never live to see The Man fall to a fiercely summoned demon in real life, we can live vicariously through the vision of director Greg Reigh and producer Ash Thompson (the latter of VAM Studio).
No Men’s Hell Was Full So We Came Back was recorded at Jamdek in Chicago with Doug Malone and drops in November on Let’s Pretend Records (vinyl) and State Champion Records (cassette/CD). Chicagoans can look forward to their album release show on Halloween at Lincoln Hall.
Tour Dates:
10/18 - Carbondale, IL
10/19 - Tulsa, OK
10/21 - Austin, TX
10/23 - Denton, TX
10/24 - Lawrence, KS
10/25 - Springfield, MO
10/26 - Bloomington, IL
10/31 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall w/ Bleach Party & Clickbait (Album Release show)