War With The Newts – The ‘Dead Eyes’ EP.
War The With Newts – Berlin, Germany.
War With The Newts latest release, Dead Eyes, sludges out rough in ridiculous chaotic fashion from start to finish. Hailing from Berlin, Germany, these Punks navigate the sea of punk-ness well while still presenting subtle originalities.
The spastic opener ‘Megalodon’ slams into life with sloppy distorted guitar and wailing vocals reminiscent of early (The) Butthole Surfers. The band then hold a Motorhead-like groove throughout into decent dynamic changes with the track as a whole definitely standing as a great tune to mosh to onward to the point of breaking a few things.
Transitioning from Hardcore Punk into a more Grunge orientated number, ‘Ass Mustache’ is aptly named for a more tongue-and-cheek nature. G.G. Allin would be proud boys. You have to admire the vocalist’s dedication to blowing out his vocals for the quintessential screech necessary for subject matter of this magnitude.
They really hit their stride with the Skate Punk anthem ‘Castration’. The vocals pull back slightly on the early verse which lends well to the build-up to the simply magnificent chorus. Said move makes the harmonies in the chorus that much more pronounced by working up to the momentum rather than going full throttle for the whole track.
The last track ‘”Caeser” Salad’ was a leap to left field from the rest of the EP. Showcasing insanely depressing lyrics accompanied by droning acoustic guitar and xylophone, this one left me scratching my head. To help you understand my conundrum, I give you the chorus:
‘We are corpses, we already dead, rotting slowly from our feet to head‘.
It does remind me of something Kurt Cobain would write; childlike honesty and full of morbid despair. Despite its nihilistic omen, I could picture the band’s closest friends chanting it along in unison at a basement show, so for that, well done fellas.
All in all Dead Eyes delivers well and if you are in need of some new Punk-Rock, I would encourage listeners of Minor Threat, Black Flag or The Butthole Surfers to check these boys out.
Find them:
- Social Media/Updates: Facebook, Instagram, Official Website.
- Music: bandcamp, SoundCloud, iTunes/Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play.
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