Find out how "The Locust give punk an art rock facelift" here
July 08, 2003 - The Locust's Plague Soundscapes is a strange record. It's unlike anything I've heard before. This San Diego-based foursome is not too keen on being pigeonholed and as this album makes evident, they don't have much to worry about. Think of it this way: if a group of hardcore fans decided that they wanted to throw a rave, this would be their soundtrack. Blazing guitars, distorted bass, shrieking vocals and machine-gun drums are the order of the day for most hardcore bands, but what sets The Locust apart from the rest of the pack are analog synthesizers. As much a part of the music as any other instrument on the album, the synth provides an interesting and strangely hypnotic aura that lures you in slowly but surely.
But it's not the keyboards alone that make the album so damn interesting; it's how well they work with this type of music. Along with the brilliant, oddball song structure, the production value adds to this mixture and makes it a living, breathing powerhouse. The producer, Alex Newport has done a fantastic job of making sure that nothing was lost in the mix.
Consisting of twenty-three songs clocking in at about twenty-one minutes in total length (That's right, the songs average less than a minutes running time), Plague Soundscapes doesn't waste any time in getting down to business. Songs such as "Earwax Halo Manufactured for the Champion in All of Us" and "The Half-Eaten Sausage Would Like to See You in his Office" fly by so quickly (hell, by the time you've recited the title of the song out loud, it's pretty much over) that you won't even have a chance to plug your ears. Luckily, this hit-and-run approach does not detract from the impression that these songs will leave on you.
It's difficult to describe any particular song on the record as they are extremely short and there are so many things going on simultaneously within them. Sure, it's overwhelming at first, but in time you'll get accustomed to the short bursts of complete insanity that make up the songs on the album. I don't really have any favorites as they all kind of sound the same in a Ramones sort of way (i.e. you can tell the songs apart, but they all use the same sound structure). Obviously, The Locust are on the opposite end of that spectrum but you get my drift. Also, considering that it only takes twenty-one minutes to listen to the album in its entirety, singling out songs is kind of counter-productive. It would take you almost as long to switch the track as it would to listen to it.
Plague Soundscapes has very little mainstream appeal, if any at all. It's certainly not an easy record to listen to. I would say that it's the musical equivalent to having your skull pummeled with the blunt end of a hammer. In other words, it's not for everybody. With that being said, I think that this record could breathe new life into the hardcore/noise/grindcore genre, which is oft overlooked. That said, this is a ballsy release in an industry that has been all too safe as of late.
Add 2 points to the score if you are a fan of hardcore. Subtract 7.8 points if all of what you listen to can be found on a Clear Channel radio station.
-Nick Madsen
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