Rockin' Our Turntable: Monotonix
Monotonix is not about progress, unless you count fighting your way out of the La Brea Tar Pits as progress. This is proto-metal that thunders along like an angry woolly mammoth, only recently thawed, hungry to make up for lost time. But, see, the thing is that they can't change. Monotonix is channeling all the pent up passions that lie deep in the collective psyche, and they allow release through their turbulent music. And the music is only a segment of the process, because it forms the backdrop to their live shows, and that's where the cacophony truly threatens to break through dimensional walls.
So if the band is forced to write songs to create that conduit, where does that leave the songs? Well, try as they might against it, and contradictory to their seeming mission statement, on their third album, Not Yet, they've honed their soundtrack to chaos to actually include -- gasp! -- some pop hooks! The guitars still thrum like a jet engine that's in serious need of a tune-up, creating bass rumblings that can cause ripple through pavement. The drumming is still a whirlwind and the vocals are still yowled out from the center of the storm. But, goddammit, the whole package is catchy as hell and will have you air drumming to the annoyance of anyone else within a ten-foot radius.
This is killer stuff, so electrocute your ears and enjoy it when your eyes start bleeding.