NEW YORK NIGHT TRAIN: FRESH KILLS

RECORD
REVIEWS

Fresh Kills
Creeps and Lovers
Arclight 2006

Fresh Kills bring us five thick slabs of post-hardcore post-punk that sit somewhere between Jehu and Damaged with new wavy pop choruses and dance grooves injected into their centers. Dark jaded yet romantic decay kind of stuff that tends to escape from NYC every now and then. The sound of a new expensive pair of high heel stepping on rats and syringes as they stumble out the door and into the dawn. When the first rays of daylight hit a small clear baggie on the street and, from a few feet away, you mistake it for a diamond. Dirty and shiny.

Rock poet Zachary Lipez’s voice is more full-bodied and in-tune than I’ve ever heard it – entering British pop territory. The JJ Paradise Players Club rhythm section of Bill Miller and Jim Paradise prove that they’re still one of the tightest and most muscular in New York, Johnny Rauberts and Tim Murray’s dual guitars do all kinds of slippery octave work, feedback, precise glass shard slicing, and, in odd places, full-on macho man powerchording.

This is one of those records that contains equal parts metallic brutality and catchy candy melodicism. As Zach says, "Metal feels good in your mouth." What if the Strokes didn’t spend their twenties being rock stars but working at Mars Bar instead? Did you get it? Have you got it?

MEDIA:

Taste of Metal MP3

Hands Up MP3