A four year wait for a follow up to the Steve Albini engineered and Ty Segall produced Antarctica finds Flat Worms proceeding with their Ty Segall connection, and in doing so get back in touch with their particular-take on twisted tunefulness with an instant, direct, hard hitting set of no nonsense garage punk/post-hardcore/alt-rock which is more of a return to their self-titled debut’s immediate gratification.
Will Ivy (vocals, guitar), Justin Sullivan (drums), Osees Tim Hellman (bass), are easier to pin down than John Dwyer’s vast exploring purveyors of sound. As Flat Worms amp up the heavy rumbling bass and purposeful, driving into the centre of the storm rhythms, while Hellman rips jagged, squalling guitar riffage. The band are revved up, and are more than making up for lost time as the elastic has been pulled back and released, and there is no stopping them as the near dozen (eleven to be precise) songs are all set at a consistent high. ‘Gotta Know’, ‘Sick Of My Face’, ‘Witness Marks’ all contain rousingly simple, but very effective choruses. And when they do drop the sprinting pace a tad on ‘SSRT’, and ‘Witness Marks’ the quality remains, to leave the album devoid of any filler.
Part of their charm is the deadpan vocal delivery, which leaves you guessing when Ivy enters unfamiliar territory expressing feelings, with the line “it’s pulling on my heartstrings” – from ‘Suburban Swans’ – are honest feelings or more snarky statements of disdain. Though I’m assuming ’16 Days’ is a message of sincere feelings of missing a loved one, although of course, I could be wrong. Along with ‘Sick Of My face’, ‘See You At The Show’ they sound like a message to a particular- person. Like the trio’s musical directness, it is aiming for the sharpest point.
So much so, Witness Marks is a relentless thrill, combining the debut’s storming energy with an extension of fine band interplay and guitar wailing rage goodness. If you are missing Rick Froberg and Hot Snakes then Flat Worms could be what you are looking for. So, give them a go and become a willing witness to their musical imprint. It should leave rewarding marks.
