White Lung

With White Lung's debut, It's The Evil, it's easy to praise it to the heavens upon first listen.  In fact, it's easy to fall in love after the first song, "Viva La Rat" if you're an outsider (like me) looking for something new and fast to punch you in the face. 

The whole record is one fast, relentless jet stream of spitting venom; never once stopping to breathe in, never once stopping to look around.  Even you, the listener, will need to catch your flying thoughts after the first listen.  But I urge you to let it swirl around for a bit and then go back to it for another round before you make your decision on how much you like it.

These are two minute hit it & quit it punk songs speeding through your neighbourhood without regard as to whether or not you follow.  What sets them apart from standard punk fare is the sense of melody painted on the top layer, courtesy of the vocals and guitar. 

It should be said that the guitar hooks on each track are creative, varied and full of screeching treble ensuring they punch through the rapid-fire drum and bass.  The vocals here are all northwest riot fare from our sisters in decades past like L7 & Bikini Kill to more recent Van City offerings like You Say Party! We Say Die!  The operative adjective here (besides "fast") would be dirty, which this band has in full force.  The drums and bass are here to keep that pace up at all times, but nothing much beyond that. 

So much punk rock is kept at more regional levels and is loved fiercely in tight circles by die hard fans, but occasionally a band will make enough of a bang that the ripples are picked up by mainstream outlets.  White Lung appear to be splashing in the pool enough to be noticed and acclaimed outside of their comfort zone.  By not sacrificing either speed or melody in their attack, they have provided a notable debut with It's The Evil. 

The problem with the record is that it's a collection of standout songs that all resonate with the same formula.  Listen to any three songs at random and try to name them without looking first.  Reordering the track list in any way does not impact the overall feel of the record, which makes it feel more like a collection of their strongest songs and not a work in and of itself.  The fact that the whole experience is only 25 minutes long plays to the strength of the presentation.  White Lung strikes you quickly, grabs you by the neck and rams your head into the speaker.  They're gone before you recover and you wonder if you'll hear from them again, kind of like a one night stand.  Of course, you don't need to hear back from them because the experience in and of itself was memorable...kind of like a one night stand. 

Now that you have my attention, with It's The Evil, what will you do with it?

- Catch Denis every Thursday on Dirty Work from 8-10pm.