Spins: Razorhouse
RAZORHOUSE
Codex Jun
(Heatshield)
Chicago industrial/punk stalwart Mark Panick takes a stab at letting melody shine over the “Lincoln-Avenue-gargling-with-broken-glass-sound” that he left his stamp on over the past few decades on the band concept Razorhouse, and the new release Codex Jun.
Surrounding himself with the likes of drummer David Suycott (Stabbing Westward, Machines of Loving Grace), bassist Matt Feddermann, Michael McDermott guitarist, Danny Schaffer, and producer Howie Beno, Mark and the crew skillfully blend Panick’s songs into mind-bending musical soundscapes that reach across the likes of Jane’s Addiction, The Ravonettes, even with a Who and Queen-like like breath, while adding a bossa nova bounce that even Nouvelle Vague would tinkle the ice in their drinks to.
In the past, melody might have played second fiddle to the sound of anvil samples with this bunch, but Codex Jun is rife with “stuck in your brain for a week” riffs with groove to spare and last through the end of the month.
Rating: 8 out of 10
-Perry Bax
Completely agree with your assessment.
This disc refuses to leave my car cd player. 6 killer tracks with a sound all their own. A reason to be musically cheerful in 2013