I don’t want to seem dramatic, but this album is possibly one of the the worst I’ve heard in my 25 years and to be honest I barely made it through the 8 tracks. Falling vaguely into the ‘Noise’ genre there appears to be no structure to the songs, with screaming mixed behind distorted, almost mechanical noise, which I can only assume started life as some kind of notes played on a guitar. Going beyond Noise, Whales produce repetitive songs which are erratic and feature feedback, looped manipulated tracks and distortion and add a dose of heavy. Thinking I wasn’t being fair, I asked two friends to have a listen – one likened ‘Adventures in Dentistry’ to ‘rats fighting on some decks’ and the other promptly left the room complaining of a migraine. The band describe their music as grind, but personally I can barely see how it can be classed as music at all. I’m not sure if Whales are trying to push artistic boundaries or are just messing around with a synth and a guitar, so if you are a fan of the Noise scene, and like your music heavy give this a listen, if not I’d stay well away.
Libby