Living Waters is the fifth full-length record from E, a band with members based in Boston, MA (Thalia Zedek, guitar-bass, and Ernie Kim, drums) and Boulder, CO (Jason Sanford, guitar, electronic devices). The sound is piledriver heavy and the playing spring-action adept, qualities appropriate for this power trio cut from the cloth of noise rock. 35 years ago, E would’ve fit right in on the Touch and Go Records’ roster, but in 2024 their latest is pressed onto vinyl by the Czech label Silver Rocket. Domestically, it’s self-released via Bandcamp, available now.
The heavyweight punch of E’s sound is impressive given that this is Kim’s full-length debut with the band, replacing Gavin McCarthy. On opener “(Fully) Remote” the sound is pummeling yet elastic, precise without faltering into the overly tight. There is strength through unity; Sanford sings lead with a sense of calm while Zedek wails the choruses, and their combined guitars reach far beyond the standard noise rock approach.
For this album, Zedek has added an extra pickup to her guitar and is running it through a separate pedal chain and octave shifter plugged into a bass amp. This effectively allows her to add guitar and bass to E’s scheme at the same time (rather than multi-tracking one of the two later, which lacks spontaneity). Additionally, Sanford continues to be a wiz with electronic devices in service of harnessing guitar distortion and has redesigned his monosequencer, an apparatus (now all-analog) that triggers bass pulses through a stomp box (leaning again into spontaneity).
Sanford’s guitar is also one he built himself, described as a steel-guitar, though he straps it on like a standard electric, dishing out slide scorch that, as said, lands firmly in the noise rock realm; there are no nods to the blues tradition here. Sanford is heard loud and clear in “(Fully) Remote,” but neither Kim nor Zedek take a back seat role as the band fully clicks.
If not bluesy, E are still operating as a heavy rock trio, so there’s nowhere for a player to hide even if they wanted to. Kim sings lead on “Jumprope” in a clear voice as the overall thrust is more resonant of mid-’90s post-hardcore. There’s a bit of a Jawbox vibe, but with qualities that are instrumentally distinctive. In “Null,” the lead vocals are split between Sanford and Zedek, who adds a pair of numeric countdowns to the dynamic muscularity.
That low end pulse comes through strong in “Clarion.” The track’s heft could land it nicely in a mix between Jesus Lizard and Unsane, though it bears pointing out that Living Waters is much more than just a rehash of old school noise rock’s blare and burn. All three members of E contribute compositionally to the nine fully fleshed out selections.
The tidy “Names Upon a List” underscores the collective songwriting acumen. Even as Sanford and Zedek ratchet up the guitar intensity and Kim solidifies the foundations, the track isn’t just a platform for launching outward to extremes. And yet, E doesn’t hold back across this album, in form or content. To assess the lyrical themes as expressing displeasure at the state of the world and distrust of those in authority is an understatement, though the songs that Kim sings register as a bit more personal.
Stretching out to nearly ten minutes, the title track slows it down a bit, Kim bringing the drum thud as he and Zedek soar on co-lead vocals. Kim plays saxophone to the latter portion of the track, though his wild overblowing adds to the scrapyard metallic din instead of adding anything sophisto. “Ash” extends the primal thump, recalling the days when surly industrial clangers rubbed shoulders with noise rock’s pioneers in the chilly bunkers of Gotham (Zedek was active during this era).
“Postperfect Conditional” swings back to the ’90s post-hardcore zone a la “Jumprope.” Both are Kim lead vocals, establishing considerable stylistic cohesion across Living Waters. “Gain of Function” is suitably heavy for the album’s closer but somewhat ruminative (if still pissed off) rather than going for a telegraphed cacophonous finale.
By the fifth album, most bands have stagnated creatively. After bringing in a new member for Living Waters, the sound of E continues to grow.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
