Total

Sure these guys might tire of hearing the comparisons, but one listen of their excellent debut long player TOTAL, and I'll be damned if the goose pimples didn't rise up the same way upon first hearing Unwound's FAKE TRAIN or Polvo's TODAY'S ACTIVE LIFESTYLES...great stuff, new, invigorating, delicate, angry, surging, calm, violent, and the best part - at every turn, surprising. One of my very favorite records of 2013....why not five stars? What would I rate next year's record by PDX's Hausu? Cannot lower the glass ceiling just yet....excellence rising to excellence....with a little luck, and good wishes for new directions in underground guitar rock, THIS is JUST the TIP of the ICEBERG.

The Pacific Northwest seems like the place to be for fans of late 80′s and early 90′s alternative rock, especially the SST Records acts of the era. Broken Water look to the artsy noise-rock of Sonic Youth, while Milk Music and Gun Outfit are influenced by the roots-tinged proto-grunge of both Dinosaur Jr. and Meat Puppets. Yet all of them add enough unique flavor to keep from ever sounding stale. The debut album from Portland's Hausu, 'Total,' sounds like a hodgepodge of all nearly all the SST bands -- but especially Dino Jr. and Husker Du -- again with their own fresh spin, while also adding a heavy dose of post-hardcore punk to the mix for good measure.The album is filled with sophisticated arrangements that recall bands like Fugazi and (early) Unwound, only more textured, and mixed with the overall slacker-rock vibe of many of those SST acts. The use of loud-quiet dynamics again brings to mind Gen X alt-rock, but most of those bands didn't have the beautifully intertwining guitar melodies of songs like "Chrysanthemum" and "Gardenia." Elsewhere, as on "1991-2091," the album will shift gears from fuzzed-out bliss to a bottom-heavy, crushingly heavy sound that falls somewhere between the post-rock of Slint and Rodan and the straight-up metal of 'Angel Dust'-era Faith No More. This shifting of gears at the drop of a hat applies to the lead vocals as well, which sound languid and dreamy when the surrounding music calls for it, yet when the amps suddenly kick into overdrive, the tortured, screaming vocals sound rather painful. Not for me but for the singer.'Total' is definitely a worthwhile purchase for fans of pretty much any of the bands mentioned above, or for fans of visceral noise-rock in general. While Hausu seemingly could have came straight from the early 90′s, they actually don't quite sound like any one particular group from that time at all. They've taken some of the best elements of those acts, and combined them with an "I could give a shit" attitude that may explode into youthful energy and rage at any time. Total`s an album that's a lot more unique than it appears to be at first blush, and -- while it may be take a little while to truly sink in -- is one that deserves to be heard.(Originally written by me for Earbuddy.net)

The Pacific Northwest seems like the place to be for fans of late 80′s and early 90′s alternative rock, especially the SST Records acts of the era. Broken Water look to the artsy noise-rock of Sonic Youth, while Milk Music and Gun Outfit are influenced by the roots-tinged proto-grunge of both Dinosaur Jr. and Meat Puppets. Yet all of them add enough unique flavor to keep from ever sounding stale. The debut album from Portland's Hausu, 'Total,' sounds like a hodgepodge of nearly all the SST bands -- but especially Dino Jr. and Husker Du -- while also adding a heavy dose of post-hardcore punk to the mix for good measure.The album is filled with sophisticated arrangements that recall bands like Fugazi and (early) Unwound, only more textured, and mixed with the overall slacker-rock vibe of many of those SST acts. The use of loud-quiet dynamics again brings to mind Gen X alt-rock, but most of those bands didn't have the beautifully intertwining guitar melodies of songs like "Chrysanthemum" and "Gardenia." Elsewhere, as on "1991-2091," the album will shift gears from fuzzed-out bliss to a bottom-heavy, crushingly heavy sound that falls somewhere between the post-rock of Slint and Rodan and the straight-up metal of 'Angel Dust'-era Faith No More. This shifting of gears at the drop of a hat applies to the lead vocals as well, which sound languid and dreamy when the surrounding music calls for it, yet when the amps suddenly kick into overdrive, the tortured, screaming vocals sound rather painful. Not for me but for the singer.'Total' is definitely a worthwhile purchase for fans of pretty much any of the bands mentioned above, or for fans of visceral noise-rock in general. While Hausu seemingly could have came straight from the early 90′s, they actually don't quite sound like any one particular group from that time at all. They've taken some of the best elements of those acts, and combined them with an "I could give a shit" attitude that may explode into youthful energy and rage at any time. Total`s an album that's a lot more unique than it appears to be at first blush, and -- while it may be take a little while to truly sink in -- is one that deserves to be heard.(Originally written by me for Earbuddy.net)

Debut release from Portland, Oregon band--music that melds a yearning, poignant sense of rock distortion with a dark, foreboding post-Gothic/punk urgency; and folds both into a compelling assimilation of fuzzed-out melody and near stadium rock presence. Psychedelic guitars cry with the fury of Crazy Horse, then (d)evolve into screaming post-punk roars of anger and finally move on to skeletal throbs of dark-drone, rhythmic rock pulsing with Robert Smith cloned vocals. There are some strange forces at work here. With all of its messy, slurred, chaotic distortion & noise elements, somehow the music carries a distinctly appealing, cohesive sense of power and shivering strength. It reminds me a lot of a thick/cranked-up/angry punk version of the Cure, plus bits of Sonic Youth, Stagnant Pools, Joy Division, Husker Du, the Walkmen. "Total" is a rather beautiful and creepy mystery that I like a lot.