Insidious

Noon in June (404)
by Tim Den

Faded picture of a child on the cover. Off-beige-colored sleeves, a Jane Austin-sounding album title, and a Wisconsin mailing address. Hmm, I wonder if what these guys are going to sound like (sarcasm, you schmucks)? Wait a second… maybe I spoke too soon. Where’s the copycat Mineral songs? Where’s the wannabe Sunny Day Real Estate vocals? You mean this doesn’t sound like The Promise Ring? Hooray!! Whoa, this shit kicks ass!! Abrasively atonal with a three-vocal attack that somehow finds strange melodies within the chaos, this is like (if not better) than The Wicked Farleys. With sharp-sounding guitars and them Fugazi/Rye Coalition/The Five Deadly Venoms messy (on purpose) chords, Insidious weaves through their screaming, shifting, energy-charged “screamo/math rock/art school noise” with the best of ’em. Shit, I would almost say this is easier to get into than some of their counterparts, if only because of the over-the-top power in the song structures. Heavy, spastic, and very enjoyable.
(PO Box 827 Normal, IL 61761)