A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Nuisance EP by Clean Lines. At this point, the city of Seattle has become synonymous with grunge – but on their Nuisance EP, Clean Lines prove that there are other, greater musical possibilities which also come from the Evergreen State. Within just four cuts’ time, Clean Lines don’t just crib some ideas from The Briefs and call it a day – rather, they ambitiously utilize recognizable sounds and rethink some well-tread sonic landscape to make it feel all-new and different.
I know what you’re thinking, reader. You’re thinking that there’s nothing new under the sun and this is all just a really hard pitch to win some potential fans, with little in the way of follow-through. First, shame on you (you’re not the first – I thought this way too, at first) and, second, this is definitely a rabbit hole that’s worth following me down.
As soon as the title track of the Nuisance EP blasts out to open the A-side, listeners will know exactly what they’re hearing. Singer/guitarists Josh Dale and Steve E. Nix blaze and bludgeon out some searing guitar figures while bassist Ricky Gonzalez and drummer Nick Schultz hold the fort around them and singer Tyler Brey takes his place on the top of the heap to present a sound which is rightly comparable to that which was introduced by The Dead Boys fifty years ago: a raging punk blast that belches defiantly in the face of fear. And it’s absolutely glorious! It’s absolutely impossible for any listener with a sense of history to not appreciate the similarities between “Nuisance” and a song like “Sonic Reducer,” and those who are too young to have that frame of reference will still like it for the brash and headstrong attack it packs. “So Sharp,” the second song on the A-side of the EP, has only a fraction less power than “Nuisance,” but still meets the standard set by its predecessor as it features comparable quality and is powered by a great and vintage radio sound.
The B-side of the Nuisance 7” opens in much the same way that the A-side closed. Right away, drums which sound like they might have been lifted right off of an old Gary Glitter single cause listeners’ heads to bob without effort, and the song’s guitar figure features a strut from which no punk will be able to turn away – and while the vocals take entirely too long to appear (one minute and forty-seven seconds into a four-minute song? That’s just criminally self-indulgent), they make up for it by coming off as the great, snotty and snide answer to Sweet which has simply never been heard before.It’s the sort of classic concession that would likely give listeners a toothache if it happened more than once, and that rarity actually makes it all the sweeter, here.
…And, because every great “candy dinner” still needs a proper dessert, Nuisance closes with “In The Way.” If the was any more than two minutes long (it isn’t), it might run the risk of being competely expendable but, because it’s sort, loud, fast and irresponsible (it’s hard not to love a song about wasting time on the company dime, and that’s what “In The Way” is all about), it doesn’t just get a pass, it deserves applause. The doubled vocals on “In The Way” offer some more of the vintage flavor expressed elsewhere on the EP, but the song doesn’t just feel like more of the same – which leaves those listeners who run front-to-back with the EP wanting more when the needle lifts after “In The Way.”
Standing back from it, while it might be a little unassumingup close, it’s just impossible to overstate the quality of Clean Lines’ Nuisance EP. In just four songs’ time, Clean Lines not only introduce themselves in a very distinctive manner (that’s right – this 7” is the band’s first release), they also leave listeners agonizing for more by the time the EP runs its’ course. It is absolutely the kind of release which signals the emergence of a great new band – we can only hope that we won’t have to wait long for a full-length follow-up. [Bill Adams]
Artist:
https://www.facebook.com/CleanLinesBand/about
https://www.instagram.com/clean_lines_band/?hl=en
https://open.spotify.com/album/3UvZYiwuvAkcH25Z60gdVT?si=9gXDy4baRMS2oJeo4JIG7A&fbclid=IwY2xjawI1zktleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHYUjIYf_8glrnwnRDjTgeEWknFupAIQwofeojrEb_zOcMN77uFWy02kuZw_aem_oATa7qJnuqVQw1YIemYhvg&nd=1&dlsi=db6cde59a71341e0
Album:
Clean Lines’ Nuisance EP is out now. Buy it here on bandcamp.
