Review / 200 Words Or Less
Stella Research Committee
A Proposed Method for Determining Sanding Fitness

Independent (2021) T

Stella Research Committee – A Proposed Method for Determining Sanding Fitness cover artwork
Stella Research Committee – A Proposed Method for Determining Sanding Fitness — Independent, 2021

Labels like Amphetamine Reptile and Skin Graft Records and the “now wave” and noise rock avalanche they launched has served as an immense source of inspiration for a myriad of bands.

Listening to Stella Research Committee’s fifth LP, they do not only seem to be overly familiar with the output of the aforementioned label rosters, but have channelled those influences into their own brand of refreshingly chaotic, seemingly improvised noise rock, infused with rockabilly, synthesizer and electronic sounds, surf rock and the nuances that made bands like Sonic Youth appealing.

Killdozer, Dazzling Killmen, Suicide, Flying Luttenbachers and Scratch Acid come to mind with their more straight forward songs, while Dick Dale would have been proud of how the trio manages to effortlessly weave in spring reverb and rapid alternate picking characteristics.

Deliberately messy in their approach and with a nuanced, hypnotic nod to textured yet minimalist kraut rock, Stella Research Committee deviate from tried and teste and carve their own path of musical strangeness.

A primal noise assault that deconstructs, condenses sounds to their very essence that manages the keep up the tension of its delivery and listeners on their toes over the duration of the full length by forcefully meandering and trampling from crescendo to crescendo.

7.0 / 10T • July 20, 2021

Stella Research Committee – A Proposed Method for Determining Sanding Fitness cover artwork
Stella Research Committee – A Proposed Method for Determining Sanding Fitness — Independent, 2021

Recently-posted album reviews

Nine Pound Hammer

Too Outlaw For Outlaw Country
Reptilian Records (2026)

For nearly forty years, Nine Pound Hammer have occupied a strange corner of American music that very few bands have ever managed to touch. They're too loud for traditional country, too country for most punk bands, too dirty for radio rock, and frankly too stubborn to care where anyone thinks they belong. That's exactly why Too Outlaw For Outlaw Country … Read more

Fuming Mouth

The Ringing Bell”
Triple B (2026)

There are plenty of bands capable of writing crushing death metal. There are plenty of bands capable of writing punishing hardcore. Very few can occupy both worlds without sounding like they're simply alternating between genres. Fuming Mouth have spent years refining that balance, and The Ringing Bell feels like the moment where every piece of their identity locks together. Anyone … Read more

Time Thieves

Come Home/If You Survive Extended Edition
Independent (2026)

Time Thieves, of Chicago, IL, bill themselves as power pop in the vein of The Rentals or Fountains of Wayn or Weezer in their bio and they double down on that with the smooth as silk, uplifting melody of "Cover Your Eyes," the first song on their Come Home/If You Survive Extended Edition LP that arrived on my doorstep, literally … Read more