by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Ring the damn alarms, Corker have arrived. Following the release of “Lice” at the very beginning of the year, the band’s official Feel It Records (Advertisement, BEEF, Silicone Prairie) debut, the Cincinnati-based quintet are set to release their first full length, Falser Truths. Due out September 1st, there’s something about their sound that feels more feral than your average post-punk band. It could be that the genre tag doesn’t quite fit, and while the band may take influence from bands like The Fall and Gang of Four, they’ve never seemed content to simply retread stale ideas. Corker’s music is bleak but never quite drawn into despair, the band’s sound emerges out the shadows with elements of noise rock, krautrock, and a hint of punk’s industrial side. The end result is something dense and impenetrable, but it’s also immediately engaging and hypnotically visceral.
While “Lice” is both brash and jagged, “Edge of Teeth” takes a slightly more patient approach to Corker’s sound, with a delayed swarm that’s as much about groove as it is attack. With a motorik punk drum beat and laser focused guitars that shake at the hip, the band are building a wall of sound on their latest single, the atmosphere thick enough to permeate the night. There’s a feeling of propulsion, not so much in the tempo, but in the relentless drive and claustrophobic boogie. While the bass sits low in the mix (even for bass), it really gives framework to the incessant fog steadily rolling forward, threatening to swallow everything whole. The mesmerizing cohesion and deep bounce make this one highly danceable while the sonic assault keeps things eternally distorted.