Whores.
Burn your body, free your soul.
Metal, even at its most neanderthalic, has been about transcendence. The moment in the mosh where the flailing limbs start to resemble a larger pattern, the chaos in the wall of sound solidifies into coherence. And no one puts that duality to work like Whores. The Atlanta trio makes the meanest sludge-rock this side of The Melvins and their debut EP CLEAN was a brutal, yet smart opening salvo. So listen to our interview with them, read our thoughts on CLEAN and see why it’s the best of the 10s.
“I don’t know what makes me feel ok. Music, really. Coffee, cats, fuzz pedals. Basic stuff really.”
CLEAN
“I AM NOT A GOAL ORIENTED PERSON,” “COUGARS NOT KITTENS,” Whores. have a sick sense of humor. But that’s clear from the opening punch of “BABY BIRD” a salute to destroying the self in all sorts of horrific ways to be born again. A death of the ego through fuzz pedals.
From a surface reading, CLEAN sounds like a shock for shock’s sake release, from the artist’s name down. But the fiercely political trio use their sludge to fight for common folks: sex workers, miscreant punks and other factions that elite classes view as undesirable. The punishing low ends and fiery yelps of front man Christian Lembach cry out for both a self-cleanse and revolt, combined in unholy harmony. In an album filled with bar fights and drunken stupors, the bookends speak to an ascent through this morass of thrilling noise.