Ceremony - Rohnert Park

  by Andrew Carver

published: 4 / 9 / 2010

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How punk are Ceremony? They don’t have a Myspace account. Or a Facebook page. The California band from the Bay Area is dedicated to the DIY spirit of hardcore and won’t be mucking about with any of those giant media corporations - they are too busy playing hard and fast, likely in a basement somewhere near you. Or at least they did. While still prone to playing in squats and basements, the band has slowed things down on their third album. In fact, you would be forgiven for thinking the slow strums and slow dip of the tremolo bar that introduces ‘Into The Wayside Part I’ indicated a switch to rockabilly. Then the heavy stomping drums and whine of feedback kicks in as the song seamlessly segues into ‘Sick’ and generally pissed off frontman Ross Farrar launches into a litany of all the things that make him ill (short answer: everything). From there the album rips into trips to jail (‘MCDF’), a manifesto against digital existence, ‘Moving Principle’ and a travelogue through a burned out, crash course existence. Then there are songs like ‘The Doldrums (Friendly City)’ whose plodding tempo both perfectly suits its drawling evisceration of complacency and dullness and shows off the band’s ability to stay fierce at less than a breakneck pace. An even bigger change to the band’s sound comes with the narrative of ‘Into The Wayside Part II’, which relates a failed attempt to save a stricken neighbour, complete with backward tracking and acoustic guitar. It wraps up with a ferocious guitar solo. Fans of Ceremony’s noisy scrabble will take particular comfort in songs like ‘Back in 84’ and ‘Pathos’, but it would take a particularly hidebound punk rocker not to appreciate the chunky guitars and rhythmic crunch of ‘Rohnert Park’ - it’s definitely highly recommended for punk rockers of all stripes - anyone with a Brutal Knights will dig the sound, although they might miss the sense of humour.

Track Listing:-

1 Into The Wayside Part I / Sick
2 M.C.D.F.
3 Moving Principle
4 The Doldrums (Friendly City)
5 Open Head
6 Into The Wayside Part II
7 Terminal Addiction
8 Don't Touch Me
9 Back In '84
10 All The Time
11 The Pathos
12 Nigh To Life
13 Into The Wayside Part III
14 (no audio)
15 Untitled

Band Links:-

http://www.matadorrecords.com/ceremony
https://www.facebook.com/ceremony/
http://ceremonyhc.com/
https://twitter.com/ceremony
https://www.instagram.com/ceremony/

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