Alright boys and girls, it’s time to journey into the vast, uncharted territories of the sub-genre lexicon and pick ourselves up some modifiers to describe the debut full length album by the Radiant Republic of Texas. Radiant is not so much a band as it is an ambitious recording endeavor, overseen, and constructed completely (drums, guitars, and vox) by fellow native Columbine comrade Brian Pennington.
At a modest eight tracks the record breathes raw, slightly dark, post hardcore, indie rock and exhales repetitive, noisecore, prog rock, with subtle influences like Wire, Joy Division, and Shellac (it’s no surprise it was recorded at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio studios in Chicago) regurgitating themselves now and again. The creepy minor key progressions and an agitated/insecure/poppy vocal style reminiscent of Billy Werner from Hot Cross, with perhaps a dash of Conor Oberst make this Mile-High slab worth ingesting.
I love the weirdness and obscurity of the songs, and the cynical, humorously dark lyrics were fantanbulous. I just wish there was a wee bit more attention to detail as far as song structure and organization are concerned, and frankly, the word Texas being used in band names is starting to rub me the wrong way. I guess my criticisms stem from the fact that I liked the disc, but I wanted a few more solid tracks and essentially a longer listen. It’s great to see more musical boundaries being pushed in Colorado instead of the same ol’ cookie cutting shit. Granted, the landscape is evolving, but it must continue or the fate of our species is doomed!
www.radiantrepublic.net
srsrecordings[at]yahoo.com
…The reflective properties of Michaels steel mace were unmistakable, it had been polished with an obsessive fervor and ultimately unleashed in a similarly passionate manner. He coated it in a Teflon sheen that gave it protection and aerodynamic superiority when swung violently. The first strike was to Cecil’s (his arch-nemesis) orbital bone, pulverizing it on impact, the blood receded quickly off the sphere before the next blow was delivered, this time to the temple and frontal lobe, later Cecil’s head was only a pulpy mass of blood curdles and skull bits, completely unrecognizable…
