The Blood Brothers

This barely contained five piece’s 2000 debut (This Adultery Is Ripe) was a hardcore explosion of furious energy that bled into the follow-up March On Electric Children. United with Slipknot and Limp Bizkit producer Ross Robinson in 2003, The Blood Brothers’ energy was focused into their widely acclaimed third album, Burn Piano Island, Burn. Robinson put a somewhat slick sheen on this grimy, guttural sonic beast, and although the band established a newfound interest in slower tempos and something that resembled a groove, the album felt a little stiff.

Crimes finds the band in a comfortable space between the unattended blasts or earlier work and the confines of Burn Piano Island, Burn. Comically high-pitched dual vocals, considerably groovy organ work, and the ever-present threat of sonic assault mesh in equal measure to make this album The Blood Brothers’ most effective effort yet. Recorded and produced in the band’s hometown of Seattle by John Goodmanson (who has worked with Sleater-Kinney and Blonde Redhead), this album captures the blues-inflected punk stride The Blood Brothers hit with their last album, while at the same time reasserting what unhinged energy and spontaneity this band is capable of.

If you’re going to like The Blood Brothers, it’ll be because this band sounds like it could fall apart at any moment into multiple, simultaneous fits of aggression. It's that tenuous, Stooges-like stability that makes this a band to watch. - Cory O'Malley

Crimes is Blood Brothers' V2 debut, and their fourth album overall. The quintet is still led by blaring, interwoven vocals of Johnny Whitney and Jordan Blilie. One screams and yelps in a very high register, the other is not so high, but still great at screaming. The Brothers' basic sound is jagged and post-punk-derived, full of hyper percussion and jerking, screeching guitars. But while this might sound like chaos, it's not. Like Whirlwind Heat or the Icarus Line, the Blood Brothers always provide a counterweight to their noisier, freakier sides. Depending on the song, that weight can either be furious rock energy, laptop experimentation, or pianos and accordions used in illegal ways. Crimes keeps a tight lid on the nervous energy that's always defined the group, channeling it into aggressive songs that often suggest the damaged, exciting grooves of vintage Brainiac (particularly "Teen Heat" and "Trash Flavored Trash"), as well as subtler numbers with atmosphere to spare. Though it periodically explodes into a metal-ish racket, "Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck" pulsing rhythms and arching guitar lines mostly follow the contours of the dance-punk scene en vogue in the early 2000s. The title track skulks along with a plodding bassline and lyrics about robbing liquor stores and wandering through landfills; it eventually recedes into the rich tones of a Wurlitzer, and the vocalists' quiet sighs. "Celebrator" begins as an a cappella dirge, but detonates unexpectedly into raucous triple-time. Other highlights include the lurching, grinding opener, "Feed Me to the Forest," the frantic, piano-driven "Peacock Skeleton With Feathers," and "My First Kiss at the Public Execution," which finds an incredibly sharp chorus hook in between its bloodcurdling screams. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide