4.5/5 stars
Of late, Clowns have burned bitumen with Aussie punk legends the Hard-Ons, Cosmic Psychos, The Meanies and Frenzal Rhomb, among others. They wrote Bad Blood nestled in amongst a morgue, cattery and cemetery. Odds are these boys scared kibble out of kittens and fielded complaints from the recently deceased. Their thrashed-up old-school hardcore is moulded by early SST Records, crowd-surfable riffs and a yearning to rearrange your insides. By welcome contrast, Clowns’ brand of noise looms so viciously it’s a ready-made moral panic.
‘Never Enough’ breezes with sunny skate punk before slamming the throttle to the floor. Minute-and-a-halfer ‘Bad Blood’ gulps fresh air between the blazingly intense ‘Infected’ and the violent and panicked ‘These Veins’. The production edges on a live show right there in your living room (train, car, dive bar; take your pick). Clowns’ DIY work doesn’t sound like bottled-up studio fakery at any stretch. Even so, it’s not brutality all the way down. ‘Play Dead’ circles drums and bass hypnotically, exploding into a blood-curdling roar and haunting your idle moments.
Crossing over into crust, thrash, noise and back again with veteran ease, Clowns second record will alert the entire world to their imminent takeover. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
