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White Mice, "Excreamantraintraveinanus"
This noise rock trio from Providence, Rhode Island, uses massive amounts of distortion over meaty bass, bruising drums, guttural screams, and squealing electronics to make sludgy music fit for exorcisms. Vicious slabs of aggression make this a visceral yet surprisingly enjoyable album.
Heavy bass and drums pound the songs into submission while ear-shattering cymbals crash over pained howls. Apparently there are lyrics to go along with this mess, but the screaming is so indecipherable that it's impossible to discern what is being said. Bits of sampled dialogue pop up from time to time and the group deftly incorporates them without relying on them to make their point. The electronics, nothing too overt, gives their sound a unique quality, or at least successfully differentiates them from their peers.
The means and effect of each song are so similar that it's sometimes difficult to tell these tracks apart, but maybe that's not really important anyway. Even so, I find them most compelling when they stray from their template, like the ending of "Ice Myself in Eye" that has a purely textural passage joined by a boiler room rhythm, or the gong-like ending of "Cumstab Patients." These little touches go a long way toward keeping their songs lively.
Their obnoxious sense of humor is a big part of why this album works. While the music is excessively savage, tongue-in-cheek song titles like "Micehandthrowpiss," "Goudah and Evil," "Fondleeza Mice," and "Miceshitjizm" prove that the band's not overly serious. That they apparently perform live while wearing mouse head masks only cements that fact. A bonus track is appended to the last song, a hilarious cover of "Helter Skelter" that receives the full White Mice treatment and manages to encapsulate the aesthetic as well.
Brutal and way over the top, White Mice stay consistent every step of the way. Far more than I had expected, Excreamantraintraveinanus is an enthrallingly grotesque album of head-fuckery.
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