I Hate Sally
Don't Worry Lady
CD (Underground Operations)
Reviewed by Graham
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While the great unwashed may not yet have heard the name of Kingston, Ontario’s resident thrashmeisters, anyone who’s been to a DIY show from Ontario to Nova Scotia has probably, at one time or another, witnessed the sheer riotous force of the mighty I Hate Sally. So it’s no surprise that after years of hard work, miles on the van and many dead left in their wake, the Sallys have finally garnered the recognition and attention they deserve. Marking their debut for Canadian punk powerhouse Underground Operations, “Don’t Worry Lady” is filthy, raw and primal – with just enough tongue-in-cheek swagger to perfectly balance things out.
Recorded in the band’s hometown and mixed by Converge’s Kurt Ballou at his own Godcity Studios, the album’s ten songs seem to straddle the fine line between the sludgy overdrive of cult Canadian acts such as Kittens and Shallow, North Dakota and the fierce, venomous rage of early American Nightmare. Bridging everything together with creepy, atmospheric interludes which sound like they’d be right at home on an Isis record, what you’ve got here is an intensely heavy hardcore album that actually sounds like a complete piece of work rather than a hodgepodge of random tracks. While all-out ragers such as “Hannah Hannah” and “Bathsheba of Seven” deliver a consistent ass-whooping, it’s in the nearly ten minute opus “Anna’s Empty Conscious for the Blessed” where the band really shows their songwriting prowess, seamlessly intertwining what could have been the material for five more songs into one monolithic testament to their own talent and originality. A stunning label debut. This shit shouldn’t be flying under anyone’s radar.
I Hate Sally
Underground Operations |
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