Date post: | 21-Jul-2016 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | asheville-current |
View: | 222 times |
Download: | 0 times |
T h e
A s h e v i l l e C u r r e n t
v o l u m e 1i s s u e 1
staff
2 the Asheville Current issue 1, volume 1mArCh 8, 2015
CORYTHOMPSON
Cory’s two biggest fans are his mother and his roomate’s cat. One
of them looks at his articles every day, and the other is his mom.
Editor-in-Chief • 21 • Apex, NC
KATELYNNWATKINS
Katelynn punctuates professionalism with high-fives. She is the
youngest married staffer and the only one to work at a drug store.
Features Editor • 21 • Asheville, NC
KAREENAGARDNER
Kareena is a pirate lass with a heart of expensive steak cuts.
note: Does not have a cat, but does have a pet rock.
Design Editor • 20 • Durham, NC
BRIANVU
Brian breaks the stereotype every day. His cat is named after an
alcoholic beverage. His only weakness is pizza.
Photo Editor • 20 • Boone, NC
TED KENDRICK
Ted likes rafting and drinking beer with his cat. But that’s every-
body on the staff. Except the people without cats.
Music Editor • 23 • Birmingham, AL
BRANDON BOUCHILLON
Brandon claims to be a professor but he’s young enough to be a
student. His greatest joys are cheesecake and his daughter.
Magazine Adviser • 29 • Lubbock, TX
aboutThank you so much for supporting The Asheville Current.
We’re trying something different. The Current is for the community, by students. We want to bring well-written, topical stories to the greater Asheville
whole. We want to highlight the hard work and community service that holds the fabric of this community together. We
want to be that fabric. We want to be a sweater.
The Ashevillage Idiot
3the Asheville Current issue 1, volume 1
mArCh 8, 2015
By Ted KendricK, Music [email protected]
With coke-bottle glasses and the girth of a strip club
bouncer, Alex Perry, 22, looks like he could be the nerd or the
bully, depending on the day. He’s big enough to be the type
of man who might order two steaks at a restaurant. Today, he’s
scarfing down a Caesar salad.
He smiles at a waitress. He frequents the Five Points
Restaurant, a greasy neighborhood diner near UNC Asheville.
Since he moved to the city over 10 years ago, the women work-
ing at the diner helped raise Perry.
At that time, Perry lived with his mother on Lee Street
- about five minutes walking distance from the university. The
house was the last stop on a long series of moves, and the last
place Perry lived with his mother.
“My mom had a mental break when I was 6,” Perry says.
“She kind of checked out and started playing spades in her of-
fice. When she came out, she would yell and scream at dad and
me.”
Perry’s family fell apart as his mother became increas-
ingly paranoid and addicted to drugs. She began using cocaine
and methamphetamine. By the time the struggling family moved
to Asheville, Perry’s father had completely stopped associating
with the family.
When Perry was 12, his mother hit him for the first time.
Then she walked out of the front door, and said she would never
return.
“It was normal for her to just walk out and say she was
done with me,” Perry says. “She’d be crashing off of meth or
coke or whatever and would leave until she could find some
more. She would normally bring back ice cream to make it all
okay. It worked. I was 12.”
This time, Perry called a friend. He says he was young,
and he was scared. Someone told the authorities. The Depart-
ment of Social Service picked Perry up the next day on his way
to school.
In the space of one day, Perry says he joined the legion of
children in America’s foster care system. As of 2012, 400,000
American kids live in foster or group homes, according to sta-
tistics kept by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Perry stayed with the Buncombe County DSS from age 12
to age 21, when he aged out of the program. He bounced from
foster family to group home and back. Some of his time he spent
on the run, living with his mom’s friends. He missed several
Raised by the village: foster care in Asheville, NCBy cory Thompson
Photo by Brian Vu - Photography Editor
College graduate and former foster child Alex Perry stands next to his roommate’s van.
4 the Asheville Current issue 1, volume 1mArCh 8, 2015
features
5the Asheville Current issue 1, volume 1
mArCh 8, 2015
featuresyears of school. The DSS placed him with all manner of people.
“I tried to shoot for families without biological kids my age,”
Perry says. “I remember learning not to ask for toys when the
biological kids do. You would never get the toy and you would
label yourself as ‘one of those kids who asked.’ You would label
yourself as a burden.”
All the while, Perry says the DSS built a case against Perry’s
mother in court. He was too young to understand the process -
but the procedure is standard across all DSS cases.
A defense attorney advocated for the mother, and the pros-
ecutor worked to prove her incompetency. In Perry’s case, the
final ruling revoked her right to raise children. One person, the
guardian ad litem, spoke directly to Perry and fought for his
needs.
“The GAL program’s whole purpose is to provide advocacy
to abused and neglected children in court that will get them
into safe permanent homes as quickly as possible,” says Jennifer
Nehlsen, district administrator of the Guardian ad Litem pro-
gram of Buncombe county.
Nehlsen administered the GAL program for the last 12
years. She is also a foster parent.
“We advocate for what we believe is in the kids’ best in-
terest,” Nehlsen says. “We also represent to the court what the
child wants as they state their needs.”
North Carolina instituted its GAL program in 1983. Each
state has its own program. In Buncombe county, 175 volunteers
cover the district. Nehlsen says most are retired mothers and
grandmothers.
Nehlsen says in a typical DSS case, which lasts anywhere
from 12 to 15 months, the GAL meets with the child once a
month to hear the child’s requests. The child’s wishes are passed
to a lawyer unaffiliated with DSS or the parents and expressed
directly to the judge.
Nehlsen says children represented by GALS tend to have
better outcomes in court, move through the system more quick-
ly, and do better in school. These youth prove less likely to end
up in the juvenile justice system. Sometimes, she says, it’s the
advocacy in the courtroom helping the children. Other times,
it’s the one-on-one interactions with the guardians.
“Our unoffical role is to be a positive adult in these chil-
dren’s lives. An adult that is there when they say they’re going
to be there, and does what we say we’re going to do,” Nehlsen
says. “A lot of these children haven’t had trustworthy adults in
“Cinderella has her fairy godmother and Snow White
has the seven dwarfs and everybody’s got somebody. I
figured I should have had somebody but
it never really coalesced.”
6 the Asheville Current issue 1, volume 1mArCh 8, 2015
their lives up to that point. The most important thing is to give
these kids attention.”
According to the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)
Study, there’s a strong relationship between a person exposed to
abuse or household dysfunction during childhood and the risk
factors associated with the leading causes of death in adults.
Guardian ad Litems serve as a role model and mentor. Nehlsen
says the volunteers remind foster kids that there are good peo-
ple in this world.
“My guardian ad litem was great,” Perry says. “He treated
me like his grandson. Once a month he would take me out and
we’d have lunch and he told me I could change the world. He
made me feel great.”
Perry’s GAL, Rubin Feldstein, retired. There’s a new guard
of GAL volunteers now. Richard Hyman, a 21-year-old GAL
from Wilmington N.C., approached the work through UNCA’s
psychology department.
“I’m a counterbalance for the negative effects of the sys-
tem,” Hyman says. “There’s a lot of legal protection for the par-
ents but my position is the only one that looks out for the kids.”
Still, this protection exists only for kids who make it into
the system. An uncountable number fall through the cracks. Al-
ana McLaughlin, a 31-year-old ex-Special Forces operator and
blacksmith, says she can’t imagine foster care being any worse
than her childhood.
“I had terrible parents,” McLaughlin says. “They abused
and neglected me. They didn’t believe me when I told them I
was being violated by the youth pastor. They were the type of
people to go to church five times a week, and I was stuck in
their house.”
McLaughlin went to school with bruises. She says she
picked up the lessons through osmosis, and was identified as
intelligent by one of the teachers. DSS came, and quickly left.
She says she became an atheist at age 8.
She lost God, her parents favorite pastime, and she lost
hope.
“When I was young, I wanted to be all manner of things,”
McLaughlin says. “I wanted to be an artist, an archaeologist, a
dancer. Nobody encouraged my dreams. I never thought I had
a future. Nobody told me I had one.”
McLaughlin says she felt she deserved a mentor.
“It was like that hero of your own Disney story thing,”
McLaughlin says. “Cinderella has her fairy godmother and
Snow White has the seven dwarfs and everybody’s got some-
body. I figured I should have had somebody but it never really
coalesced.”
Tammy Shook, a social work program administrator in
Buncombe county, understands there’s not enough people in
the system to meet the needs of every child.
“Not everyone can foster or adopt children but everyone
can do something,” Shook says. “We all have to be positive
adults. We need to take care of the kids flitting at the edges.
Adults need to check in more often. As adults, we have a re-
sponsibility to the kids in the community.”
Shook heads a program called “Yes - I Can Do That for a
Child!” which allows community members to pay for children’s
expenses. Soccer leagues, piano lessons, and other extracurric-
ular activities appear on a website which allows for community
members without the time to adopt to still benefit a child.
“Take this salad for instance,” Perry says. “I wouldn’t eat
salad as a kid. I was extremely picky. But during one of the
better times, when my parents were trying to work things out, it
was such a good time that I wanted to eat my vegetables.”
Want to make a difference? Call (828) 250-5868 to buy a
kid a soccer league membership.
Contributed by Alana McLaughlin
McLaughlin works at Northern Cressent Iron.
features
7the Asheville Current issue 1, volume 1
mArCh 8, 2015
features
My phone alarm goes off at 8 p.m.
to tell me tonight is the night. My entire
body shakes. My teeth chatter like casta-
nets. It is time to go up on stage and per-
form a few songs I had written for open
mic night.
I was walking downtown with my
Seagull Entourage guitar, thinking about
everything that could go wrong. I could
forget my own lyrics. I could hit a wrong
note. But the worst thing that could hap-
pen? I finish a song perfectly, and I hear
nothing but silence followed by polite
applause.
I soon arrive at the place hosting
the open mic. It is one of those “cool
bars” whose name is also the address -
Four College. It has been hosting open
mics since 2009. I got there at 8:30 p.m.
Open mic started at 7 p.m. The place
was practically empty.
Thank God.
The emcee approaches me asking if
I’m going to perform. I say, “Yes. Where
do I sign up?” The emcee smiles and ex-
plains to me that he doesn’t do sign-up
sheets.
“I got rid of those quite a few years
ago,” he said. “It is all about the flow of
the evening. We play it by ear.”
What?
“So when will I perform?” I ask.
“Oh you’ll be on after these guys.”
He points to three men who were sitting
with their wives and kids.
I thank him and took a seat at the
bar. Now my insecurities are taking over
my nervousness. I start hoping the band
before me isn’t too good. No one wants
to follow someone who got a standing
ovation. There’s a reason why more pop-
ular bands close the show.
The band before me turns to go
up on stage. They introduce themselves
and start playing. Their music is comfort-
Lessons in love and life on Four College Ave.By drew heinz
Contributor [email protected]
Photo by Leslie Frempong
Drew Heinz plays guitar and sings in local open mics.
features
8 the Asheville Current issue 1, volume 1mArCh 8, 2015
able-sounding poppy music.
I think I can follow that, but I don’t
want the audience to think my lonely
acoustic guitar sounds empty, especially
compared to a full band.
As they’re playing, the emcee comes
up to me again. He leans over and says,
“Do you mind if we do an interlude be-
fore you get on?”
Cool! The audience can have a little
break. Now, it won’t feel like I’m follow-
ing a full band.
“I don’t mind at all,” I say.
“Cool,” he says. “Thanks.”
The band finishes playing. The em-
cee comes up on stage and tells a young
woman in the audience to join him. She
looks as confused as I do. The emcee
calls out to the dishwasher to “do his
thing.” The dishwasher guy approaches
the woman and goes down on one knee.
“You’re the love of my life,” he
mumbles. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes.”
Oh crap.
The woman kisses her new fiancé.
They walk offstage to be congratulated
by friends, family and strangers.
Now, I’m on stage with my inse-
curities kicking in full-force. The dimly
lit bar suddenly turns into a bright and
bold Disney fairy tale, where everyone
lives happily ever after. Meanwhile, I’m
the mood-killer, playing a song about a
person strung-out on coke.
I would love to play happy love
songs, but I don’t have any happy love
songs. Any songwriter knows that a neg-
ative song is easier to write than a posi-
tive one.
Here goes nothing.
“Hi, I’m Drew and I write … songs,”
I said looking down.
I hit the first note on my guitar and
away we went.
The maximum number of songs one
can play is three. After I played my third,
I was asked to play two more.
After my set, I hop offstage with my
insecurities feeling flushed out. I order
myself a victory beer from the bar and
take a victory sip.
The band I judged so harshly ap-
proaches me to tell me how much they
liked my set.
“Thanks,” I say. “I liked your set
too!”
I see a girl eyeing me from across
the room.
Maybe I should propose.
EIGHTH PAGE AD
Photo illustration by Brian Vu - Photography Editor
EIGHTH PAGE AD
features
9the Asheville Current issue 1, volume 1
mArCh 8, 2015
What doesn’t kill you makes you
weaker.
That was the case for Rob Tison.
Kelly Tison sits at a table in her seem-
ingly ordinary suburban home, gently
thumbing her ring finger. A band of pale
skin is distinguishable where, shielded
from the effects of the sun, a wedding
band once rested for 17 years.
“We met in August of 1994 and got
married in February of 1995,” Kelly says.
“Then we were together ever since.”
But Kelly never imagined the love of
her life would suddenly fall victim to a
life-ending disease, leaving her and their
two children to pick up the pieces.
Her worst nightmares became a re-
ality.
“It happens so fast you hardly have
time to process any of it while it’s hap-
pening,” Kelly says. “One day every-
thing is okay, and the next day your life
is changed forever.”
Seventeen years after exchanging
their vows, Rob was diagnosed with
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often re-
ferred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. It is
an illness for which there is no cure, ac-
cording to the ALS Association website.
“You know it exists, but you think
‘it’s never going to happen to me,’ or
‘why should I help people who have
that?’ or ‘why should I donate to that?’”
Kelly says, ticking off the assumptions on
her fingers.
She recalls the moment when she
realized something was seriously wrong
with her husband’s health. He was on
medication for an overactive thyroid, but
started encountering complications. He
drove to the emergency room after expe-
riencing what he thought was a stroke.
Soon after, his speech and muscle
abilities deteriorated significantly. Kelly
remembers Rob struggling to perform a
pull-up at the playground, a previously
unchallenging feat.
Kate Bell, Kelly’s confidante and a
longtime family friend, remembers when
their husbands would sit on the porch
drinking beers.
Rob always appeared healthy to the
outside world, Kate says. He was a com-
petitive athlete who enjoyed participat-
ing in bicycle races and marathons, with
no need to train beforehand.
“To see somebody going from so
strong to so weak,” Kate says, trailing off.
According to the ALS Association
website, ALS is a neurodegenerative dis-
ease, and when motor neurons degener-
ate it results in muscle weakness. When
muscles no longer receive the messages
Disease deteriorates muscles, familyBy Avery riggs
Photo by Kelly Tison
Kelly, Sydney, Rob and Tyler Tison capture a moment on one of Rob’s last family vacations.
required to function, they begin to atro-
phy and the patient eventually dies.
“It’s such a traumatic disease to
watch,” Kelly says. “Muscles just die, and
all the sudden someone can’t use their
hands or walk or eat. To watch somebody
just waste away like that while knowing
exactly what is going on.”
Above all else, Rob was a devoted
husband and father who loved his family
more than anything, Kate says. He made
sure this was felt even after he was un-
able to speak due to the disease.
When he was first diagnosed, Rob
would take the family on special trips to
ensure they had positive and uplifting
memories to cherish later.
“You know that song that goes
‘Rocky Mountain climbin’, and skydiv-
in’? We did all of that,” Kelly says. “He
says it was kind of a gift because it made
him realize how much he appreciated
his family and he wanted to spend as
much time with us as possible.”
After nearly 14 months of painful
MRIs, nerve conduction studies, and spi-
nal taps, doctors ruled out all other pos-
sibilities leaving ALS as the final culprit,
Kelly says.
The only thing left to do was fight.
“We did a lot of research on trying
to find ways that could keep him healthy
for as long as possible,” she says.
Kelly drove Rob to Duke University
once a month for him to receive infusion
therapy. His body was injected with rilu-
zole. It’s the only drug approved for ALS
patients by the Food and Drug Adminis-
tration, according to the ALS Association
website, and its delivery is an all-day
process. While it’s not a treatment that
stops or reverses ALS, it slows its pro-
gression.
After the trial period ended, Rob’s
doctor tried to grant him compassionate
use, but the drug company denied the
request, Kelly says.
“So there is something that you
know is helping and you stay stronger
for longer, but you can’t have it.”
When the trial ended, Rob’s health
10 the Asheville Current issue 1, volume 1mArCh 8, 2015
features
... She looks at her hands, rubbing
the place her wedding ring used
to reside.
HALF PAGE AD
11the Asheville Current issue 1, volume 1
mArCh 8, 2015
featuresseemed to spiral downwards faster than
ever.
Between doctor visits and trips to
Duke, Kelly witnessed other ALS pa-
tients’ distress. Patients would experi-
ment with homemade concoctions of
bleach and other toxic substances.
“People with ALS get so desperate,”
she says. “They will try any drug no mat-
ter what. If it’s going to burn their insides
out when they drink it, they will still try
it because there’s nothing else left any-
ways. You will try anything.”
Some patients are participating in
clinical trials of drugs that hold promise,
but there has yet to be a breakthrough.
In addition, these drugs have not yet
been approved by the FDA and are only
approved for experimental tests in clini-
cal studies.
“You are giving up the last few good
years of your life to participate in some-
thing experimental,” Kelly says. “And
what’s scary is that, what if that’s going
to make you feel worse? And a lot of
them do.”
Kelly also wrestled with her own
desperation to prolong her husband’s
life. She says it seems like it’s always the
good people who are affected, not mass
murderers or prisoners.
Although Kelly and Rob tried to stay
positive, the tension created by the dis-
ease affected their relationship.
Kelly remembers an instance when
her husband lashed out.
“I remember Rob saying ‘I wish you
had it,’” she says. “But at the same time,
I know that he thinks that I didn’t under-
stand what he was going through. And
I didn’t. There’s no way I could under-
stand completely.”
Two years, six months, and two
days after Rob’s diagnosis, Kelly’s world
changed forever.
“This week will be two years since
he died,” Kelly says.
Kelly’s gaze is steady as she looks
over her shoulder at her 15-year-old
daughter watching TV in the next room.
“You just have to show them that it’s
okay and we’ll get through it,” she says,
quietly now. “And it sucks, but you still
need to go on living your life, and be
happy, and do the things that you want
to do. And not feel bad that your dad
isn’t getting to do them with you. But
think of him while you’re doing it.”
Since her husband’s passing, Kelly’s
outlook on life has changed.
She appreciates every day, and is
finally able to discuss her experiences
without pining over them, she says.
“It’s not easy every day. But I cer-
tainly try to appreciate people more,”
Kelly says.
She looks at her hands, rubbing the
place her wedding ring used to reside.
Photo illustration by Brian Vu
QUARTER PAGE AD
12 the Asheville Current issue 1, volume 1mArCh 8, 2015
reviews
The Hermit Kings are the next big sensation in Asheville
thanks to their weekly performances at the Isis Music Hall’s “Free
for All Fridays.” A four person band composed of three Zacks-- all
of varied spelling-- the Hermit Kings display a variety of indie
rock motifs with firm psychedelic undertones.
Their first track “Walkdown” begins with precisely that-- a
musical walkdown-- in a slow, sneaky and bluesy sort of way
with vocals reminiscent of The Antlers, Dr. Dog, and Glen Han-
sard of The Frames, not “so awkward and absurd” as the lyrics
would suggest. “Cutting the Stairs in Half” is carried by an upbeat
bass in a song that feels similar to The Strokes. “Aberdeen”-- track
three-- plays up the band’s whistling talents while “Broke” breaks
out the xylophone, both techniques that are somewhat a cliche
in indie music. The fifth track “Prisoner” displays a rich bass
groove accompanied by my favorite lyrics of the album, “Black
and White, the groom stands at the altered state of mind” before
breaking down into a Ted Leo and the Pharmacists-inspired rift
that transforms into a nod to Irving Berlin’s classic “Puttin’ On the
Ritz” (1930).
Does the album fizzle out in the end? Perhaps, since the sixth
and penultimate track-- “The Fight”-- begins slow and dreamy
with traditional blues chords that might have served the album
better if slotted a bit sooner. The seventh and final track has a slow
start too, but ultimately breaks down heavily in the chorus, and
like everything else that must end, we are left with the appropri-
ately titled “Skeletons.”
The Hermit Kings: Loose Tooth (2013)By Ted KendricK
Music [email protected]
Asheville’s Doomster has been serv-
ing up a steady dose of Indie Powerpop
since 2011. The upcoming release of Fu-
ture Athletes will be the groups third re-
lease following their Riders EP (2012) and
nine song LP “D” (2014). The band is
fronted by songwriter Robin wood, joined
on the mic from time to from spasmodic
drummer Corey Walker.
The Doomster sound is an indie-surf/
punk-rock hybrid. Clean melodic guitar
leads alongside grinding chords operate
Doomster like a punk band. The music
is high energy, and maintains a solid pop
sensibility.
Doomsters most recent LP “D”, cranks
out a relentless stream of grinding up-tem-
po pop songs coupled with Wood’s throaty
vocals, which sounds to be comprised of
equal parts David Byrne of the Talking
Heads and Jello Biafra of the Dead Kenne-
dys. The album is packed with straightfor-
ward power pop songs, which feature spot
on pacing, dynamics, and structure.
On the whole, however, the Doom-
ster doesn’t seem to be striving for new
territory. 70% of the songs off “D” feature
the identical upbeat tempo, and similar
approach to vocal and instrumentation.
The flaw in “D”’s delivery lies in Doom-
ster’s tied and true songwriting formula.
The songs blend together, offering little to
set Doomster apart from its sound-alike’s.
Only two songs defy Doomster’s
characteristic formula; “Forced” and “Sav-
ings”, a pair of instrumental tracks, which
open and close the album. These tracks,
wich feature accordion and bizarre per-
cussion and are the most interesting tracks
on the album.
Doomster is scheduled to release
their second LP in March of this year.
By Tyrell lucus
Doomster: “D”(2014)
reviews
Last year, Gene Simmons from KISS
falsely declared that “rock is finally dead,”
but that’s probably because he never heard
Andrew Scotchie and the River Rats, a
band that has transformed from its debut
in 2011 as a guitar and harmonica busk-
ing duo to a full-fledged rock, funk, and
southern soul band. “Soul and Sarcasm”--
the Rats’ first and only studio produced
album-- hits hard with “Set My Soul Free,”
displaying their tight musicianship made
obvious by its complementary rhythm
and sharp brass sections, declaring that
rock and roll itself-- not dead at all!-- will
do the soul freeing. Scotchie’s vocals are
slightly reminiscent of Jack White, but
venture into more funky territory in the
second track’s “Brokenhearted” where
the band makes some real stanky sounds,
both poignant and pungent in the twangy
harp and muted trumpet solos. “Neigh-
bors”-- the fourth track-- is about noise
complaints from next door (a frequent
obstacle faced by garage bands), but the
album never slows down, ending with “I
Don’t Worry” which is a straight-up party.
These are tunes that would make Grand-
ma take out her hearing aids for a sec and
send her back in time to the music of her
youth. The River Rats honor the heritage
of Asheville and the Appalachians in this
way-- probably why Scotchie has since
become one of Asheville’s favorite sons.
The River Rats: Soul and Sarcasm (2012)By Ted KendricK
Music [email protected]
In 2012, Here Come the Morbids
gave us our first taste of the Morbids
sound; Angry white boy jams with sar-
castic song names like “Complicated
Dance Moves” and “It’s Funny ‘cause its
Poisonous.” The EP was brimming with
raw guitars and chaotic vigor and word-
play, but was sadistically short. A good
EP leaves you wanting more.
Morbids follow up release comes
two years later with their LP, Relentless
Ceiling. The album offers eight tracks;
two of which are newer and tighter ver-
sions tracks off Here come the Morbids.
It’s clear; Morbids went for quality over
quantity. The album’s run time is just over
a half hour, but Relentless Ceiling deliv-
ers quite an earful. Each song is expertly
choreographed, and leads the listener on
so many unpredictable swings in rhythm
and mood. Thirty minutes of Morbids is
borderline overwhelming.
The Morbids sound defies immedi-
ate categorization. The band certainly
has its roots in 90s post punk, but con-
tains elements of psychedelic and pro-
gressive rock. Morbids has incorporated
these elements, and modernized them.
Relentless Ceiling songs are ripe with
an intense aggressive momentum that
carries through the length of the album.
Songs like “No Anatomy” and “Poison-
ous” are rollercoasters of complex gui-
tar riffage, harsh vocals, and abrupt shifts
in tempo. This energy builds until, with-
out warning, the band slips into smooth
melodic breakdowns. No two members
ever play the exact same melody, and the
drummer follows the guitars with remark-
able energy and precision. The album
has its sweet spots too with tracks like
“Strange Synesthesia” and “Halloween
Penance”(has a groove in ¾ waltz tim-
ing, and the band pulls it off). The songs
begin in beautiful dark surreal melodies,
building in volume and intensity to an
uproarious climax.
A glance at the liner notes indicates
the song’s lyrics got as much attention as
musical compositions. Lyrics are respect-
ably articulate, delving into psychologi-
cal, political themes. On the most part the
group’s songs are co-written by Edward
Madill (guitar) and Matt Kotarba(bass).
Though each member’s creative style has
their own definitive qualities, the combi-
nation of all four members makes for a
unique and cohesive end result.
Morbids is very much a band’s band,
the music is not the most accessible. The
songs are strange and too experimen-
tal for radio, but that could be a com-
pliment. The songs are chaotic, but not
messy. The album is ground to a healthy
amount of experimentation. Despite its
inherent chaos, the result is cohesive.
By Tyrell lucus
Morbids: Relentless Ceiling (2014)
FULL PAGE AD