Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
Would Never Hope Happen Kosher Rock Records (KRR)
(2/3 of Battering Ram are formerly of Shut-in)
If short-fused math-punkers Pecola were Toronto's answer to Drive Like Jehu, it naturally follows that former Pecola bassist Craig Thompson's new Shut-IN act is analogous to Jehu-offshoot Hot Snakes: the beast is slightly better behaved, but the bloodlust is still very much there. It's just that instead of being unleashed, it's internalized in the form of creeping, circular, Slintian guitar patterns, stuttering rhythms and Thompson's foreboding delivery. Any expert on terrorism will tell you that fear and anticipation of an attack can be just as emotionally devastating as the attack itself, and while Shut-IN threaten to blow up without warning at any moment, the fact that they never really do makes them all the more cunning and devious. Best moment: "Army Song," whose sneering epithets -- "control is money / money is power ... get stronger every step we take" -- flip the script on be-all-you-can-be sloganeering to expose the evil subtext of patriotic propaganda. SB
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
With the ability to shred notes and shed tears, in constant pursuit of perfect controlled chaos, Battering Ram's influences are US Maple, Deerhoof, Hella, Boredoms, Don Cab, The Fatal Flying Guillotines, Dirty Three, Lightning Bolt, Polvo, Trux, Slayer, Storm & Stress, Television, Xiu-Xiu, alot of gospel, spazzcore, metal, pop up greeting cards, Wolf Eyes and Melt Banana. They have been compared to The Ex, The Scissor Girls, early Sonic Youth meets Beat Happening (they choose to disregard this one as folly). With a love for noise and melody, Battering Ram like tension, but know the value of a good song. Seeing them live is like hearing someone yell "We're just trying to make a difference in this darn difficult worlllllllllllllllllllllld!
Links
