Album Reviews
- by Tom Dumarey
When I first heard Bothers rip into opening track ‘Loose Teeth’, I thought for a second that Pro-Pain’s Gary Meskil had started a garage-y side-project with John Reis. Turns out it’s three guys from Portland called Mike, John and Matt who are causing all this ruckus. And they go about it with the same amount of subtlety as Leatherface while wielding his chainsaw.
On their self-titled debut, they rip through ten songs with so much urgency and menace that it would prompt doctors to prescribe something, anything really to calm these guys down. When they do take their foot off the gas for the song ‘No Trust,’ they sound like the nightmarish hybrid of ‘Rohnert Park’ era Ceremony and Fucked Up. Intensity level? Maxed out.
Most of the time though this is an onslaught of relentless drums, thick bass lines and highly effective riffs that come with the treble turned all the way up Wipers-style. I’ve seen this album being described as “the perfect soundtrack to throwing your boss in a fucking woodchipper”. And yup, that about sums it up.
Track listing:
- Loose Teeth
- Brain Matter
- Lost Vision
- Dumb Skull
- No Trust
- Shut In
- Meat Hooks
- Claw to Bone
- No
- Deader Ends
Lacking the talent to actually play in a band, Tom decided he would write about bands instead. Turns out his writing skills are mediocre at best as well.
