MLTVR029
HOLY TONGUES "Weak People"
12"LP - $7.50
STREET DATE: 8/5/14
Baltimore, Maryland's HOLY TONGUES is comprised of three members of the legendary hardcore band, RUINER; a band that made a name in the '00s via two LPs on Bridge 9 Records.
On their debut LP, "Weak People", the trio – guitarist/vocalist Dustin Thornton, bassist/vocalist Stephen Smeal, and drummer Joey Edwards – evolve out of the hardcore zone of its previous band and into a realm of sledgehammer rhythms, churning low-end, and radiant textures. As the instrumentation veers between Jesus Lizard stomp and Quicksand drive, Thornton and Smeal share vocals – jaded but still painfully earnest, they reflect on the past and assess the present through lyrics like: "I used to be a bright light / I used to shine the way / But I'm fading every day / I'm just crooked teeth and bad tattoos / That's all I'll ever be to you / And I feel so awkward in my skin / We all live in the shadows / Of the statues of our former selves."
At times melancholy, at times downright epic, there is a relentless forward motion underlying all of Weak People, implying loudly that nothing is permanent, that this a mere snapshot of one point in time. This is the sound of people, of a band, in transformation.
Weak People was produced by Kevin Bernsten (Full of Hell, Magrudergrind) and mastered by James Plotkin (Isis, Earth).
"A dose of sludge punk that wouldn't feel out of place on Sub Pop's late '80s roster..."
–BrooklynVegan
"The members of Baltimore trio Holy Tongues are no strangers to turmoil. All three previously served time in Ruiner, one of the most vicious hardcore acts of the '00s...the group contains and internalizes an eruption of rage and regret, compressing it into a knot of blackened punk and then swallowing it whole."
–The A.V. Club
TRACK LISTING:
01. Pale Light
02. Filters
03. 92
04. Bright Light
05. Small Fires
06. Smoker
07. Follow
08. 1/10/82 - 8/8/12
FOR FANS OF:
Self Defense Family, Quicksand, Title Fight, Ruiner, Blacklisted
MARKETING POINTS:
- 1st Pressing of 500 on mixed-color vinyl
- Comes with digital download
- Features three of the five members of Ruiner
- Ruiner's two LPs on Bridge 9 sold combined 3,500 copies
- Spring shows with NOTHING and ROSETTA
- Weekend release shows planned for 8/9 in Baltimore and 8/10 in NYC