HAND THAT TAKES

Coming from the heartland of the USA in Detroit, Michigan, the modern hardcore band THROWAWAY is keeping the dream of prog infused punk alive well into the 21st century. This trio is led by the charismatic Kirsten Carey (guitar, vocal) who has channeled her inner Lydia Lunch meets Dimanda Galas and launched a rather boisterous career with energetic live performances and so far two releases. Known mainly as the mystery punk goddess who performs with a paper bag over her head, she and her partners in crime Oliver Dobrian and Jonathon Taylor who are both drummers make THROWAWAY a strange little musical entity.

HAND THAT TAKES is the second release emerging in 2022 with eight tracks that only add up to 22 minutes but what a punch this little noisy musical experience is! Despite the term pronk (prog + punk) clearly applying here, this is no Cardiacs worship band but rather derives more inspiration from NYC's skronky no wave movement that existed in the grimy underground in the late 70s and early 80s. Add to that the band delves into the complex angularities of avant-prog offering jittery time signature attacks and highly unanticipated hairpin turns in musical direction. Ironically there is no bass to be heard! Just guitar, two drummers and Carey screaming her heart out!

The music is quite varied actually. The band is quite capable of holding a steady groove to lull you in before unleashing an unexpected attack of sheer music terror that results in chaotic outbursts of youthful angst run amok. The music skirts on that precipice of easily accessible punk rock albeit with extreme dissonance and atonality and the sheer free form experimentation of the most extreme cases of the prog universe. The band cites its influences as a nasty mix of the Japanese punk band Otobke Beaver along with the sludge metal of the Melvins along with the chaotic avant-weirdness of Deerhoof. Add to that a few grooves from Primus and the zaniness of Frank Zappa and you sorta get the picture.

Basically a riff based band with a catchy albeit obnoxiously jazz-fueled caustic guitar grooves leading the way, THROWAWAY truly delivers the goods from an anarcho-punk sorta way with the icing on the cake coming from the experimental and progressive accoutrements that always threaten to derail the entire shebang and plunging into sheer sonic noise terror. The star of the show is no doubt Kirsten Carey whose charismatic bravado ranges from contemplative soft semi-spoken lyrical deliveries to true irreverent outrage. While certain parts such as the short "(News Bulletin)" offer nothing but sheer noise rock, others like "DINOSAUR" are quite hilarious with well established meaty hooks that don't deviate from accessibility.

An interesting band to watch out for as all the ingredients for a classic act are in the making. HAND THAT TAKES may be short and to the point but provides a diverse palette of distinct hardcore flavors that mine the world of no wave, punk rock, indie rock, avant-prog, noise pop and the never-ending wellspring of the experimental. This is one of those really fun albums that makes you want to see the band live because as animated as Carey is on these recordings is probably only a controlled allowance of what she is like on stage fully fueled by an audience. Overall a really cool modern example of progressive punk that doesn't sacrifice the immediacy of the punk world for getting overly complex.