Paul Walker (No Sleep)
By Mike Delano
The Albany punkers in Drug Church insist that their music should be used to help you “forget for a moment that you have eczema and work at Pizza Hut.” In truth, everyone should take notice of the righteous noise this band is kicking up on its debut full-length, regardless of employment status or skin condition. Paul Walker certainly maintains a bleak outlook on things (just a minute or so after pressing play, you’ll discover during the opener that “everything went tits up/and everything shit the bed”), but that doesn’t mean it can’t incorporate some grooves into its punk assault, in the tradition of Helmet, Quicksand or The Bronx. The head-nodding start/stop aggression of “Donny’s Woods” is a standout, and “Deconstructing Snapcase” sounds like an awesome stylistic tribute to the awesome Snapcase. Even songs with annoying titles like “Reading YouTube Comments” and “Learning To Speak British” — the kind of “clever” song names one would normally associate with shitshows like The Devil Wears Prada — are good, with the former riding a filthy Big Black vibe and the latter being one of a handful of breathless sub-two-minute burners that give the album as a whole its fascinatingly ugly shape.
(www.nosleeprecords.com)