A true cornerstone in the proliferation of modern racket, Wolf Eyes was once aptly described as approximating a brawl between Negative Approach and Throbbing Gristle, i.e. heavy, abrasive, abstract and dyspeptic in attitude. Signed to Sub Pop during a highly prolific run of sonic extremity, the trio has survived lineup changes and incrementally edged toward recognizable structure; 2015 brings their debut for Third Man. Easily assessed as the farthest they’ve travelled from unhyphenated noise, the stylistic developments of I Am a Problem: Mind in Pieces still delineate a formidable beast; it’s out on LP and CD October 30.
At their most intense Wolf Eyes could easily attain room-clearing levels of clamor, but they weren’t accurately labeled as formless, and the fraction of the group’s nearly 300 releases having made my acquaintance never connected as tossed-off or sloppy. They did often seem like the unruly combination of early Industrial’s antisocial antagonism and hardcore punk’s torrid, raw-throated aggression; the end results could hit the lobes like audio from a horror movie lacking any pretense to plot, instead just brandishing random violence and convulsions of mayhem amid progressions of mounting unease.
Springing to life in 1996, the trio was severely active throughout the Aughts; as Indie became an increasingly mainstream affair in the early moments of the new millennium, the trio of John Olson, Nate Young, and Aaron Dilloway served as part of an underground rebirth. While having not even a smidge to do with folk music in any trad sense, Wolf Eyes was New, most definitely Weird and they hailed from one of the great cities in all of North America, namely Detroit, MI.
Amongst a tight handful of releases on established labels, e.g. ‘02’s Dead Hills on Troubleman Unlimited and ‘04’s Burned Mind and ‘06’s Human Animal on Sub Pop, the group supplemented their discography into a completist’s nightmare (though happily much of the prolificacy has been made available digitally on the group’s Bandcamp) through a steady stream of micro output, much of it on Olson’s American Tapes and Dilloway’s Hanson Records; when I saw them live in Harrisonburg, VA in ’05 they were selling what appeared to be a lathe cut laser disc.
The noise scene has frequently been pegged as a bullpen of unsociable malcontents and disturbed loners, and as the title of Wolf Eyes’ new one illustrates, that’s not a particularly unfair assumption. But in this instance the reality is an intensely extroverted enterprise (lots of touring to match the unwieldy discography) also possessing significant collaborative dexterity.
Together with unsurprising dalliances with noisesters Smegma, John Weise, Prurient, Black Dice, and Nautical Almanac (Nate Young’s former band with James Twig Harper) are a pair of meetings from the Festival International de Musique Actuelle in Victoriaville Canada, Black Vomit an exquisitely unexpected hookup with improvisational-compositional treasure Anthony Braxton from ’05 and Victoriaville Mai 2011, a swell cross-cultural/generational three-way with French experimental-prog guitarist Richard Pinhas (he of Heldon) and Japanese noise kingpin Merzbow.
The strength in creative dialogue extends to resiliency in personnel; Dilloway amicably departed the group on ’05 and was replaced by Mike Connelly of Hair Police. The output gradually began slowing, at least in context; one of their higher profile post-Sub Pop releases was ‘09’s Always Wrong on Hospital Productions. In ’13 Connelly left and was replaced by James Baljo, though reportedly both Dilloway and Connelly contribute to that year’s No Answer: Lower Floors for the De Stijl label.
It only takes a few seconds of I Am a Problem: Mind in Pieces to adequately absorb the changes that have occurred subsequent to Baljo’s involvement. Specifically, the album begins with the tones of an electric piano, the instrument establishing a simple motif extending throughout opener “Catch the Rich Train.” Quickly surrounding it is all sorts of abstract business; horn wiggle, processed vocals, layers of electronics, and smatterings of synthetic rhythms and organic percussion.
But from beginning to end the keyboard repetition hovers beautifully between tension and calm; even with exposure to only a percentage of Wolf Eyes’ oeuvre it’s clear this is new territory. And yet not the slightest bit uncomfortable, and if the first few seconds of “Twister Nightfall” emits a caustic aridity seeming to foretell a turn toward more standard operating procedure, a huge tribal drumbeat throws a curveball bringing to mind the drone-throb-burn of prime Suicide.
With vocals a tad reminiscent of Jim “Foetus” Thirlwell and an overall heft that could appropriately accompany one of R. Kern’s short movies, it’s a sound definitely filtered through the seedy underbelly of ‘80s NYC, though unlike some of those antecedents Wolf Eyes is less caught up in aggro and more interested in simply dishing out an effective groove.
“T.O.D.D.” initially explores the sorta throb and wheeze associated with pre-dance Industrial before mutating into an atmosphere of acidic guitars, incessant pulsations, and agitated vocals; its overall effect is like a saucer full of curdled Darkwave. “Asbestos Youth” offers contrast, the first two minutes instrumental and quite cinematic, a bit like the soundtrack to Alien if it’d been directed by young Dave Cronenberg; woozy faux-backward-masked vocals bring to mind Twin Peaks’ Man from Another Place.
Excepting two cuts, everything on I Am a Problem: Mind in Pieces extends beyond six minutes: “Twister Nightfall” hits five and a half and the hunched-up Stooges-Suicide-post-hardcore merger of “Enemy Ladder” (released by Third Man as a single) ends at a tad over three. Capping an extensive and well executed shift in sensibility, closer “Cynthia Vortex AKA Trip Memory Illness” stretches out to eight.
Foreboding and dirge-like with messy tangles of guitar spillage and the rigidity of a mechanical drumbeat, there’s even a little flute fluttering along the way, so maybe these guys have a Freak Folk side after all. The chopped up stuttering vocal that arises prior to the abrupt ending does get closer to the general norm, however.
Like punkers going wave and hardcore bands succumbing to the urge to headbang, noise practitioners embracing convention reliably indicate diminishing returns. Eschewing compromise or desperation, I Am a Problem: Mind in Pieces is a wholly logical exception, presenting a very welcome turning of a musical corner.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
