What are we to make of 25 Suaves’ massive mangling and rebuilding of the metal beast? The Michigan duo (Velocity Hopkins riff-wrestling guitars and DJ Party Girl beating holy hell on drums) make the kind of immediate bluster that absolutely demolishes the division between player and audience, leaving only a demolition derby of sweaty bodies riding waves of distortion, bash-beats and rasp-howled commands to get your rock on.
And 1938 is the duo’s most focused, accessible assault on the rock ’n’ roll mountain yet. The record simply sounds bigger than two people, and is bolder than you remember rock ’n’ roll ever being.
Think Nirvana’s “Negative Creep” with more space and speed and less self-consciousness. Think Motörhead stripped bare and playing too loud in your neighbor’s basement. (That’s stripped bare musically — imagining Lemmy naked is more than one should ever be asked.) Think about everything you’ve ever loved about metal distilled and blasted from a boom box speeding down I-94 past Ford Lake and racing for points west.
Or don’t think at all. Let the music make you grin in recognition and go giddy with surprise and energy. Like 25 Suaves’ labelmate and musical brethren Andrew WK, you just get sucked into the energy of it all. It’s big and scary and smart around the edges. It’s yet another potent reminder that rock ’n’ roll is still a place where outcasts can rule. That it’s still a place where the hesher sitting in the corner of the lunchroom can not give a flying fuck and still take down the whole debate team with a well-placed verbal swipe on his way to the smoker’s lounge.
Fuck art! Let’s dance!
25 Suaves play Nov. 30 at the Elbow Room (6 S. Washington, Ypsilanti). For information call 734-483-6374.
E-mail Chris Handyside at [email protected].
