Science Man – Monarch Joy
Stage dive for cover because Buffalo’s diabolical Science Man returns with his latest hardcore punk abomination, Monarch Joy.
After a 5-year banishment touring the Rust Belt countryside, local scenester heavyweight John Toohill’s project has evolved from the lone multi-hyphenate and a drum machine to a full-blown and fully-realized ensemble. Recorded and mixed by Toohill and John Angelo, and mastered by the latter, the LP marks Science Man’s latest experiment as his most cohesive and focused work to date.
Monarch Joy is sutured together with chunks of hardcore punk, garage and noise rock and injected with expressionistic themes of moral decay, sacrifice and religion’s influence on society. Toohill breathes life into his bastard creation with barking vocals that rage with the ferocity of a feral, caged animal.
The record opens with the unsettling instrumental track, “S.C.I.M.N.” Featuring a grotesque cacophony of screeching horns, droning guitars and tumbling drums, the song will make your stomach turn before vomiting forth with the frenetic ripper, “Control Collar.” A schizophrenic song best listened to inside a padded cell, “Control Collar” snarls with unhinged anger and frustration. Its structure swings between outbursts of teeth-grinding verses and spiraling choruses before self-destructing in a frenzied manic episode. Crank this one up and plunge into the psyche of a mad man.
Deeper into the record’s abyss lies “Puzzle Hoax,” a needling and dizzying piece of work. Toohill’s cadence and cryptic lyrics command the track with a satisfying and robust flow.
A puzzle hoax.
A cancerous joke.
Infinite.
Insatiable.
Lying in sick.
“Puzzle Hoax” is a harsh and physical listen; beating you down while tying your brain into knots. Prepare for frantic drums agitating dirty riffs that spike and pierce the ears and mind like a syringe. For the sheer lunacy of it all, Toohill and company find semblances of order and align these jagged jigsaw pieces into a cohesive and chaotic collage that will make your heart explode.
Other standout tracks include “Ruthless Prism,” “How the Butcher Gets Paid,” and “Lesser Species.”
Monarch Joy is a raw and staticky 9-track monstrosity that dares to stand out. It’s punk as fuck; truly embodying the DIY ethos the genre is famously known for. Toohill seemingly has his hands in everything from the artwork to an album-accompanying three-part short film that he wrote, directed and edited with collaborator Lindsay Tripp. Science Man is a uniquely fleshed out vision with more texture and personality than you can shake a test tube at while Monarch Joy pushes the artistic expression of punk for a more immersive and gratifying experience.
Monarch Joy is out now via Swimming Faith Records and available for streaming on all platforms including Bandcamp, Apple Music and Spotify.
Categorised in: Album of the Week
This post was written by Matt Burgerhoff