The Family Curse … good god. When people tell me a band is “crazy” I usually chuckle to myself heartily and think about Edward Ka-Spel. That makes me feel better, usually …
But in this case “crazy” is actually a fairly apt descriptor (hear it for yourself; listen to all 6 minutes of “Bodies in Rooms” for free down below). The Family Curse are dollars-to-donuts one of the kookiest combos around, dealing in an unseemly din of death loops, car-crashing crescendos and hyper-banshee shrieks.
Roll Karen O and Get Hustle into a nice little spliff and you have the right idea, but that’s only the beginning. Sprinkle in a liberal dose of Albini (song title “Big Black Mark” is a dead giveaway), along with some PRE, Jesus Lizard, Death Sentence: Panda, Blood Brothers, San Francisco’s Pigeon, AIDS Wolf and maybe even some Sneaker Pimps every so often.
You’re getting close but you’re still not there. Thirteen-minute mega-jaunt “Back in the Water”, in all its fireworks-in-your-face fury, is redolent of none of these bands, nor is “Exodus from the Birds in the Night”, a picturesque drone with pics and hum-bars all over the place.
And Megan Tweed; a lot of times front-women of her stripe end up doing more harm than good, but she is an exception. There are times when the Groove calls for more room, room Tweed isn’t willing to give, yet she never ceases to pull new rabbit tricks from her gorilla larynx.
Same goes for her band. All told, The Family Curse should probably tour with Gay Beast if they haven’t already. There’s a lot of creative synchronicity going on here. Not that they sound alike at all, more that they’re both heavy without being metal, hardcore, punk or noise.
Let’s call it post-junk.
Check out more from Grant over at The Gumshoe Grove.
Fainting Room Collective [CD, 2009]
1. Teen Challenge
2. Laughing My Way To The Bank
3. Back In The Water
4. Big Black Mark
5. Like Lightning
6. Sewing Box
7. Exodus From Birds In The Night
