The punishment for being late writing a review is that the task, all by itself, will be harder to do, because everything that can be said, has already been said by others. And unless you can come up with something new and ingenious to remark upon, you will just be paraphrasing previously written words. This is especially frustrating when the release, as is the case with the album at hand, deserves much better. But the number of albums to be reviewed at this time of the year is seemingly endless, while the number of hobby writers is always limited, just as the time they can spend on their hobby.
Yes, the Berlin-based trio Maggot Heart have indeed released a very good third full-length album with Hunger, so good in fact, that the first pressing, if Bandcamp is up to date, is almost sold out by now. What does Hunger offer that’s so good? Well, one of the best imaginable combinations for any music fan. A sound simultaneously familiar and new.
Guitarist and singer Linnéa Olsson (formerly of Beastmilk/Grave Pleasures), bassist Olivia Airey and drummer Uno Bruniusson surprise the listener with raw, edgy, barely reigned-in chaos materialising as noisy post-punk, with a dash of jazz here and there. While a multitude of influences can be heard, Patti Smith, Sonic Youth, Elastica and early PJ Harvey among them, the songs have been put together in a way that they do not resemble the output of any one particular band. Instead, they proudly stand for themselves, displaying character in abundance.
Antsy, restless and ravenous, Hunger explores themes of desire and desperation in equal measure and from the viewpoint of a young woman. The unusual thing here being that the powerful refrains and abrasive hooks get better and more intense with every run through, as the listeners familiarise themselves with a look at life from out of an itchy skin.
The album opens with Scandinavian Hunger and a massive feeling of unease created by bass, drums and screechy background noises. Soon, Olsson’s vocals put words to the audible discomfort, and a phrase that is most often used to shame someone is uttered: You are what you eat. From here on onward references to hunger and eating continue, in a literal as well as in a figurative sense. Track number two, for example, is titled Nil by Mouth, another one Concrete Soup, and the closing song’s name is Parasite – a creature, often, with an insatiable appetite.
The initial tenseness never really subsides, culminating maybe in Archer, where you can hear a bow being drawn, drawn, and overdrawn, but never really fired. Throughout the album’s eight tracks, the atmosphere stays charged, electrified. That’s a good thing, because the unruly soundscapes prevent familiarity with the material developing too soon, and that makes the Hunger stay fresh and as intense as it was in the beginning.
If you are lucky, you might manage to get one of the album’s few copies left. Money well spent.
(8/10 Slavica)
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