Debut LP by Cincinnati’s Corker is an Exceptional Post-Punk Listen
Hitting play on a random album that immediately perks your ears and gives you chills is always a pleasant surprise. This happened to me the other day, messing around on Bandcamp when False Truths by Corker appeared at the top of the search list under “punk.” The album dropped this month, September 1st to be exact, and I feel lucky enough to come across it and am proud to recommend it to any post-punk fan eager for something new.
Corker hail themselves from the underground of Cincinnati, Ohio. For lead vocals & guitar you have Luke Corvette; Cole Gilfilen for guitar, synth, & vocals; Ryan Sennett on the bass & synth; and Alex Easterday playing drums & percussion. Their Instagram tells me this is their first LP, and bravo to them for coming out with a home run on the first swing.
The entire album feels like a guilty pleasure. Throughout it, there are these horrific, almost alarming sounds, as if someone is warning us of the coming apocalypse. I want to run and hide, yet these red flashing lights that appear in my mind after each lo-fi synthesized vocal with a powerful guitar riff send my eyebrows to the moon, forcing me to stay and listen to the mayhem to ensue.
From the opening track titled “The Cold Air,” you immediately get pulled in by the drums. Slowly the guitar comes in, then this echoing voice sends chills down your spine. You hit the two-minute mark, and the song unleashes into this intertwining of instruments, showcasing what I believe this band does so well – the building to pandemonium. Several songs on the LP have this build, sometimes ending in utter chaos. What appears to be their most popular song, “Edge of Teeth,” has an 80s English feel to the whole thing, with an angry guitar demanding your attention. “Lice” showed me the range of the band, the beat offers a moment to pogo and certainly should be a crowd-pleaser at future concerts. For my next chance to blare war drums, because that happens often, I would turn to “Seeking, Marching” the 5th song on the LP. Those drums, almost like someone is hitting the top of a trashcan, still haunt me in my sleep. Both “A Fitting Compensation” and “H.E.” showcase the band’s powerful stop-start ability. These are not the only songs to do so, but the most impressive. And the LP ends with my favorite song, “Sour Candy.” The half-strung guitar riff pops at you, and it is by far the best example of how they can build into these beautiful madding moments of destruction that sound dreadful yet encapsulating.
Soooooo – check it out! You can follow them on Bandcamp at – corker.bandcamp.com. And they have an Instagram account here – instagram.com/corkerband.
Cheers, swine.
