by Álvaro Molina (@alvaromolinare)
Nashville, TN may well be known because of its rock & roll paraphernalia and country wayfarers, but troubling times like these ask for troubling music. Wherever it may be. So out of the “Music City” - and pretty much out of the Nashvillian tradition – comes Thirdface, a vicious hardcore outfit bound to gut your ears with their scorching debut Do It With A Smile.
Blending all things hardcore, this Southeastern quartet – led by the fiery vocals of Kathryn Edwards – exudes sheer agility and intensity. Do It With A Smile is a 22-minute continuous tour de force filled with blistering riffs, blast beats, ear-piercing feedback, and roaring vocals. Bangers like album-opener “Customary” and “Grasping at the Root” will surely get your fists pumping, feet stomping and head banging with straightforward, zero-fucks-given, crossover thrash.
This album is no customary or self-satisfying testimony of the genre. Thirdface are aware of this and they bring a load of twists and turns throughout the brutalism and vividness of the songs. The crass mixtures of grindcore and atonal, noisy passages in tracks like “No Requiem for the Wicked” or the savage groove of “Villains!” makes you think these four are not in this game just to screw around. Sludge overtones suddenly appear like grisly interludes in the experimental, dissonant, “Ally,” where David Reichly (guitar) and Maddy Madeira (bass) showcase an oozing and feedback-laden picture of decay.
Recorded and mixed by Thirdface drummer Shibby Poole – who shreds blast beats and bludgeoning rhythms through the record – Do It With A Smile is an aggressive manifest and a rabid statement against everything established. Its inventive approach is a crucial step in the hardcore scene. Although it lacks “smiley” moments, this record will most likely make you smirk with no relief.