by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
For the past four years or so Memphis’ Big Clown have been turning the circus upside down with a disarming mix of caustic punk, noise rock, and elements of hardcore. Their sound is fractured and frantic, darting around like a clown with it’s head cut off, the intensity arriving in swarms of blistering tempos, agitated lyrics, and spikes of chaos. Last year the quartet shared a self-titled compilation collecting their output, pairing together their EPs, debut LP, and a live recording from Goner Fest. Their catalog is about to expand with the release of their second album, Beatdown, due out June 30th via Swimming Faith Records (Science Man, Ismatic Guru, Alpha Hopper). The songs are built on fuzzy sludge and propulsive rhythms, finding the less often explored middle ground between bands like Melt-Banana, The Blood Brothers, and Torche.
“Broke” is the upcoming record’s lead single, a song that’s willingly obnoxious (in the best of ways), twitching and convulsing against a primal rhythmic groove. The band set themselves deep into the pocket, riding a distorted riff into Helmet-esque territory before Lucy Isadora’s vocals squeal and squawk the song into depravity. There’s almost a nu-metal dissonance at play here, but the band shake their way into the dirge with a reckless attack that veers closer to noise rock’s sordid brand of over the top enunciation and atmosphere that strips the paint from the walls.