by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
There’s very little that can prepare you for the paper-bag-headed depravity of Detroit avant rock band Throwaway. The band, led by Kirsten Carey, are not for the faint of heart, pitting together noise rock, no wave, and art punk with an animated theatrical bent. With every deranged riff comes room for the unexpected, darting around without a map between wild yelps, collapsing rhythms, shifting tempos, and rearranged melodies that squawk between wacky splattered weirdness and the utterly unnerving. Following 2019’s full length debut, What?, the band are back with a new EP, Hand That Takes, out now via FPE Records (The Miami Dolphins, Yea Big, Kamyar Arsani). It’s an album that’s bizarre but bizarrely focused, highlighted through the many jumps and skips in overall tonality, pulling at straws to keep it interesting on their way down into the depths.
“DINOSAUR.” is the album’s lead single, originally released back in May, a track that features Carey joined by both Oliver Dobrian and Jonathan Taylor on drums, because as we all know, two drummers are better than one. The song contorts and convulses with both ambient passages of eerie calm and jagged outbursts of stubbed melodies and unique touches of personality. The video is A Momotorium production, with animation and video editing by Ben Willis, choreography by Maddy Rager, and directed by Carey, capturing a great mix of animation and cryptic performance art-indebted live action. There’s some great dance moves and the way the animation blends with the physical performance is fun and engaging.