Punk rock probably saw its heyday at Northwestern when Steve Albini, producer of Nirvana’s In Utero and member of iconic punk band Big Black, attended in the mid-70s. This article is, in no way, going to instigate any sort of punk movement on our campus, but it will hopefully get a select few readers to see the potential cathartic pleasure from listening to hardcore. Because, you see, it will focus on what I believe to be one of the best albums of the year: Mauser’s End of the Line.
Hailing from Gainsville, Florida, Mauser does not aim to introduce new and creative sounds. These days, publications such as Pitchfork, Spin, and Consequence of Sound emphasize originality, or, at the very least, reinvention. All three publications gave glowing reviews of Atlas Sound’s latest album Parallax, for reasons like the elasticity of Bradford Cox’s vocal range, an over-arching sense of unique melancholia, and an effective combination of catchy hooks and moderate experimentation. You don’t have to read between the lines to see what these publications prize: originality, dynamic emotional depth, and a strand of accessibility. It seems that these criteria for what makes a good album have permeated into the ideology of independent music because they can be applied to practically any music genre. This method of approaching music criticism not only correlates with the rise of the indie movement — where hipsters list Kanye West right next to Girls as their favorite music on Facebook — but also justifies the mainstream popularity of cross-mixing genres: Kanye West actually collaborating with Bon Iver and Beyonce sampling Major Lazer. It seems as if the whole goal of popular music these days is to make something original by mixing genres together while still providing a catchy beat or melody.
While this is new and exciting and all, this has also led to the death of the substantiation of any particular genre. Whereas Nirvana was the catalyst of the grunge movement, which would grow and flourish for about half a decade, bands these days merely mash genres together, leaving no room for the actual establishment or continuation of a new genre. The popular term “indie” can mean anything from Atlas Sound to Justice.
Because of the current state of “indie,” End of the Line comes across as a refreshing reminder that genres not only still exist, but can actually thrive. Mauser functions as a relatively unknown band in an already sparse genre. It’s impossible to imagine Mauser’s EP reaching more than a couple thousand people in the world, even though the entire album is up for download. And the band isn’t utilizing a synthesizer or looping their voices into a distortion pedal or using Arab chord progressions. No, no, none of that. Mauser is composed of a guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. And they only use power chords. On paper, they bring nothing new to the table. What makes the album so good, then, is the band’s dedication to not only maintaining the spirit of punk, but also being insanely, ridiculously, outrageously aggressive. End of the Line is ten minutes of raw catharsis with a level of energy I never imagined was possible.
During live performances, each musician must burn at least a million calories a second. The vocals are composed of pure screaming, delivered in a way that makes the screaming in Minor Threat songs seem like Belle and Sebastian b-sides. The guitar is so loud and fast, sometimes veering into chaotic distortion, that it trumps even what Steve Albini or Morpheme has accomplished. But the best part, in my opinion, is the drumming, which, I swear to God, is Slipknot on steroids.
Mauser hasn’t reinvented hardcore or mixed it with Krautrock. Instead, using the genre constraints they have set upon themselves, Mauser simply transcends its peers: outplaying them in every aspect and glorifying themselves by sheer will. And that, to me, is an absolutely refreshing method to produce a great album.
If you like or are open to the idea of pure rage and energy, I highly recommend checking Mauser out.
If you don’t like Minor Threat, loud noises, distortion, or any glorious celebration of revolt and anger, then you will absolutely hate this.
Sample Track: End of the Line
