Locust - New Erections

  by Jamie Rowland

published: 3 / 4 / 2007

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Review

Yes, the Locust, purveyors of the most awful noise you are likely to hear this side of anywhere, return with their long-awaited second LP. Now don't let my description mislead you. I love the Locust. Their in-your-face, kick-in-the-gut, intentionally unappealing sound is what makes them, ironically, so very, very appealing. 'Plague Soundscapes', their debut, was 23 gut-wrenching songs in twenty three minutes, and a beautiful thing it was too (great for sticking on at a house party if you really want to piss people off!). It was with some trepidation that I placed the Locust's new LP, 'New Erections', into my hi-fi. I had two main worries: First, can their sound take another album, or will it have grown tired, a bit too "yeah, yeah, heard it all before" ? Second, if they have changed their sound, will it still be as good? Looking at the track listing, the number on the songs has decreased to eleven, and the track lengths have increased so that now most of them play for over a minute, one of them even coming dangerously close to the minute mark - surely not, I hear you cry! I had the same reaction. But fear not! Although the song lengths may have changed, and some of the lyrics are now almost discernable, the music still has the same slap in the face quality that seems to annoy so many people out there in listener land. The band still spit their vocals with venom, and the buzzing, effects-laden instruments keep the sound very recognisably Locust. As with their EP, 'Safety Second, Body Last', the longer tracks on 'New Erections' seem to be in parts; at times a slow, crawling electronic drone with barked lyrics, then switching to a pounding, buzzing spray of sound, with vocals screaming out of your speakers. My personal favourite track is 'God Wants Us All to Work In Factories' - two minutes of relentless drums, buzz-saw bass, electronic squeals and 'ripping 'guitars. Your friends will hate it. 'New Erections': a severe beating in audio terms. Wonderful!

Track Listing:-

1 AOTKPTA
2 We Have Reached an Offical Verdict: Nobody Gives A Shit
3 ...Doing the Unnecessary...For the Ungreatful
4 One Manometer Away from Mutally Assured Relocation
5 Full Frontal Obscurity
6 Scavenger, Invader
7 Hot Tubs Full of Brand New Fuel
8 God Wants Us All To Work In Factories
9 Book of Bot
10 Slum Service(Served on the Sly)
11 Tower Of Mammal

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