Album Review: Meat Wave - Delusion Moon

Album Review: Meat Wave – Delusion Moon

Chicagoan riot-inducing trio Meat Wave unveil another work to add to an existing wealth of unapologetic punk anthems. New LP ‘Delusion Moon’ is nothing short of a call to arms further detailing a ‘cease to exist’ to all ‘filler’ punk.

The title track opens the record that thunders, breaking through the layers of apprehension of the listeners. The track offers an initial glimpse into the garage fuzz frontier of punk that Meat Wave have fabricated over releases.

The production highlights the raw potency behind the band’s distinct grasp of punk – the guitars touch the medium of brittle with a screeching resonant quality that mirrors the typical homegrown recording quality from the dwellings of a trio of weirdos who happen to be scholars of early Hot Snakes records and the reckless abandon of The Brokedowns.

Vocalist/guitarist Chris Sutter is a snarling powerhouse like a narrator on the fringes of hysteria declaring, “I inhaled the fumes, now dazed and deranged, lace up my pain. I see visions I envisioned something different” along a soundscape of a B-movie horror soundtrack, foreboding a character’s doom. Not all the credit goes to Sutter as Joe Gas on bass and drummer Ryan Wizniak both pull their weight towards the desired destination. The d-beat-esque rhythmic stomp of ’Vacation’ and closer ‘The Gay Contempt’ is an example of the entrancing potential power of a rhythm section.

Previous Meat Wave favourites (‘Sham King’ and ‘Sunlight’ from this year’s Brother EP) make an appearance, however, the revised versions of the tracks appear untouched, which isn’t necessarily a loss but for fans of Meat Wave – do not expect anything new.

’Delusion Moon’ brandishes a blend of raw untapped punk presented with a poppy splendour at the root, anyone with an appreciation of the primal pop hook will gravitate to the record. There are unsettling undertones of dark jangly jabs that provide a picturesque quality to the record. However, there is also the light benign tribute to the glory of the simplistic pop form such as on ’Reunion’. On the occasional short bursts such as the Reatard-esque ‘NRA’, Meat Wave reign supreme where Sutter allows poignant rhetoric to colour his words as he spits, “When I join the NRA, you can’t take my rights away but you can take my fears.”

On ’Delusion Moon’, Meat Wave are in full force, effortlessly projecting themselves atop the ever-expanding mass of punk outfits.

4/5

’Delusion Moon’ by Meat Wave is out on 18th September on Side One Dummy.

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