Absolute Monarchs: 1

Absolute Monarchs
1
Good To Die Records [2012]









Fire Note Says: Absolute Monarchs come roaring onto the scene with their debut album, 1!

Album Review:
This Seattle four piece had me hooked from the first notes of “Attack”, the first song on their debut album, 1. The Absolute Monarchs are loud, aggressive, abrasive, discordant, and flat out rocking on this record.  The Monarchs come across like a cross between Mudhoney, The Jesus Lizard, and Fucked Up, with some Fugazi and Drive Like Jehu thrown in the mix. That should give you a pretty good idea of what they sound like. This is hot stuff, and like METZ and Roomrunner, Absolute Monarchs are helping to bring back the late 80’s early 90’s sound that rock has been sorely missing for quite some time now.

The twin guitar buzz of “Attack” starts the album off, but it’s the distorted, impassioned vocals that really make this special. Joel Schneider’s voice is a force to be reckoned with; he goes from detached cool to a full blown wail in a matter of seconds.  The record is totally covered in distortion and feedback, "To Hell, Let’s Masquerade" is a perfect example of this. That’s not to say it sounds like a No Age or a Times New Viking record where distortion is often times used as its own instrument, no this is distortion that comes from playing loud and screaming, its old school distortion. It’s like The Sonics playing Psycho in the early 60’s when recording equipment couldn’t handle that amount of overload. That’s what Absolute Monarchs sound like, they are pushing everything to its limit, and that bleeds onto the tape.

At 10 songs and 30 minutes, 1 is the perfect length. Any longer and it would begin to lose its impact, and any less and it would be an ep. Nope 30 minutes is just right, it keeps you wanting more, and leaves you more inclined to hit repeat once you get to the last notes of “Bled Out”. This is a good one, go check it out and crank it up!

Key Tracks: “Attack”, “Bled Out”, “Sharp”

Bands With Similar Fire:
Drive Like Jehu
The Jesus Lizard
METZ

Absolute Monarchs Website
Absolute Monarchs Facebook
Good To Die Records

-Reviewed by Kevin Poindexter