Left-of-centre Australian punk and hardcore is often a victim of identity crisis – clutching the ‘experimental’ tag so close it teeters on imitation. Few bands refute this, and even fewer are still in operation. Tired Minds are among those toying with traditional formulas and producing a fresh take on an at-times stagnant subgenre.
Loom’s opener and first single ‘Low’ sprints and rests back and forth from punk fury to lax apathy, culminating in an ending whose weight is as emotionally as it is sonically crushing. It’s the starting gun to a race that seldom abates.
Scattered through the course of this record lies sullen rest stops – an old woman’s recount of her youth on ‘Mona’ is mortality, bare and unforgiving. Loom spends most of its time in the gloom of reality.
Comparisons to bands like La Dispute, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Converge are warranted. While this record’s inspirational source is easily referenced at a passing riff, drum fill or vocal phrase, these references are purely conversational.
Loom feels less like it’s paying homage and more like it’s cutting its own line, leaning only on its influences for guidance.
It’s safe to say: the future of Australia’s more experimental acts of the punk and hardcore scenes looks promising.
Loom is out Friday June 16 through Art As Catharsis.
