Brutal Jr - Party Garbage

Is it a coincidence that a band named Brutal Jr would get their time in the limelight on a site called Brutal Resonance, or is it simply an act of fate that two adjectively described Brutal products would clash on the internet? In either case, what's happened has happened and it is my pleasure to introduce you to the self-described synthdoom project Brutal Jr. The members are Daniel Morales (formerly Adult Science), John Meier ( Noah Cross, Snow Days, formerly Naked Naps), and Ryan Yancey (Henbrain, Absent Lovers) and have four releases to their names. "Evening with the BJs Live Cassette" is pretty self-explanatory as is the "Human Paladin Lvl 9000 EP", whose title gives away its three track nature. It was in February of 2021 that the band began to tease their forthcoming album with the single 'Live Forever, Make It Better (Feat. Jason Wornoff)'. It did not take them more than a couple of months to then unveil their full-length debut "Party Garbage" via Broken Sound Records. 



Aesthetics are pleasing enough in terms of both cover art and concept. The cover art features a dog whose features are warped slightly to be a bit more on the horror-side of things. For example, the white fur on the dog's face is purposefully (at least I believe it is) shaped like a skull. The eyes also glow a red with black outline, mimicking the hollow spaces where eyeballs should be on a skull. In either case, if that dog came up to me, I would give it a pet and a scratch behind the ears. The concept, then, follows a character named OC-666 who returns home from a mission. But their home has been taken by greed, pollution, and excess enabled by despots and theocrats. A drug is also widespread which is called Party Garbage. OC-666 thus decides it's time save both their planet and their family, even if it means all out war. Good stuff to be found here! However, as I always like to mention when I discuss concepts or cover art, this does not effect the score; only the music can do that. Speaking of, let's get to it. 

The intro song of the album is a two-minute and twelve-second featuring a bass guitar looping the same sound throughout the track. While its not a bad groove, it did get stale by the time I hit the end of the song. The vocals are kind of shouted, kind of sung in a sense but has a raw power behind them. Wonderfully done in that regard. The track really gets going around the one-minute and twenty-five second mark where lightened synths come in. The synthdoom sessions continue in the following track 'Sin Trading', which revels in punk influences as the beat ramps up. What I can appreciate about Brutal Jr, especially on 'Sticky', is their combination of traditional instruments and raw synthetics that creates a wicked and almost southern-sounding charm. I liked the subtle electronic touches in the background of 'Mas Face' as well as the low samples that had me feeling as if it were the soundtrack to a horror film. 

Every sound on 'OC-666' fit perfectly with the theme of the song; influenced by sci-fi imaginings, the doom and gloom came to full fruition on the track. Fuzzy synths continued their magic. The song 'The Cursed Image' is quieter than the other tracks on the album, focusing on cinematic build-ups in favor of loud and bombastic segments. After a brief interlude, we're thrust into the rampant track 'Zsa Zsa'. I was not a huge fan of this album; the rapid percussion that appeared throughout the track, such as right at the beginning, didn't really flow with the vocals. I felt that the thrashy-approach needed to have equally thrashy vocals. After an eclectic mix of sounds and samples in 'Eyes Roll Back', I was brought into the song 'Live Forever, Make It Better'. This was a song that I began to avoid after the third play of the album. this is due to the vocals. When I hear someone inhale after every line delivered, I get annoyed. That's not a sound that I really want to hear and makes me feel like someone's standing over my shoulder with their mouth right next to my ear. I wasn't too huge a fan of the first chunk of 'inthecity' either, as I thought the electric guitar stuck out way too much from the rest of the beat. However, there is a phenomenal guitar solo later on in the track that absolutely kicks ass. I absolutely adored the final song on the album 'inthetrenches', as it progressive nature of being a low-key track to an ear-filling orgasm of punk and synths was a joy. 

Brutal Jr's "Party Garbage" is an album that I don't have real strong feelings for, but it is one that I was able to enjoy nonetheless. There are songs here and there that I don't have the urge to listen to again ('Zsa Zsa' being one of them). However, despite my dislike of the opening moments in 'inthecity', I was always stoked to hear the guitar solo later on in the song. Other tracks such as 'OC-666' and 'Sticky', however, were tracks that never really got old for me. Despite some complaints, then, I had an overall good time with the album, and therefore give it a 6.5 out of 10! 

This review was commissioned through our Ko-fi page.
May 02 2021