Why in the hell did I sleep on this record last year? Given, this did come out kind of late in the 2007, and with all the hoopla surrounding end of year lists and such, I guess it just slipped under my radar. A couple of Saturdays ago while in my local record store, the Nick Blinko (artist for Rudimentary Peni covers) artwork on the cover caught my eye in a shock of surprise. Had Rudimentary Peni really put out a new record? Closer inspection revealed that this record was not the old time punk band but rather a new album by Iron Lung (their second full length and first for Prank amongst a host of many other EPs and splits that have been released on various labels), whom I had been hearing quite a bit of talk about recently but not had the pleasure of hearing or witnessing. One of the owners of the store, Carol, told me that I needed to hear them as it is right up my alley. Yes, they actually listen to good stuff at this record store although they have been known to watch Dr. Phil and Oprah to torture me. As it played, I frantically searched through the vinyl section until I found the glorious artwork that adorns the album. That record, Iron Lung's Sexless / No Sex sits on my stereo right now and blasts a tremendous amount of sound - more than I could imagine coming from a two-piece - which is definitely right up my alley.
"Pig Hands" is a great introduction to Iron Lung, let alone just Sexless/ No Sex. It starts off super fast and then slows to a crunching part of the song that acts like gut punches before it seamlessly transitions into "Stone Hands" for more speed mixed with bottom heavy body shots and bits of noisy guitar. "Future Corpses" and "Sexless / No Sex" step out of the fast and loud and into the mode of discordant guitars and pounding drums to ram home the vocals; the screams of "disease" are great in "Future Corpses." The vocal arrangements in "Politics of Science" mix with the noisy, discordant music in an extremely effective way as the vocalist yells, "Money! / Fame! / Power!"
"Here / Alone" has this pervading mood of paranoia, loneliness, and fear that sounds very real and is accented by the short blasts of guitars and the slow tempo while "First Night In" has this completely relentless drum attack. Songs such as "Lumbar Puncture Test" and "Cancer" prove that Iron Lung is not a one trick pony that relies or sticks to one style, mode, or formula of music but punishes people with a subtle variety of heavy sounds to get their point across to the listener.
Straight and to the point, Sexless/ No Sex is a shot of adrenaline in an audible package that barrels through listeners with premeditated strikes and short outbursts. One would not think that such a thick, crushing sound could come from a two-piece band, but Iron Lung delivers this in abundance for the whole length of the record. Maybe this album is just what I need to hear right now, but it is refreshing to hear such a racket and I am exceedingly glad my friend recommended this to me. A few of my other friends also were initially fooled by the Nick Blinko art, but this only served to further pique their interest in the band. Do not sleep on this if you are into heavy sounding punk that I guess could fit in the power violence genre if needs be. You will not be sorry.
