2010 Popfrenzy
Rating: 4 / 5
What comes to mind when you think about Israeli music? Middle Eastern woodwinds and atonal chanting? Rabbis and menorahs? Abhorrent Eurovision entries? Monotonix are here to shake up some stereotypes.
The hirsute Tel Aviv three-piece are responsible for raucous blues-ed-up garage rock. The sound is something like the Black Keys, if the Black Keys were a trio, one of them was a bear and the other two were on fire. It borders on the chaotic; but never tips over the edge to uncontrolled noise.
The opening track 'Flesh And Blood' sets the pace for the record. Lead singer Ami Shalev whoops and croons over haphazard, scuzzed out guitar and crashing cymbals – all held together by a bass line thick enough to land a 747 on. The theme continues on the following couple of songs, although Shalev does have bit more of a chance to show off his pipes (and spectacular accent).
'Something Has Dried' is more melodic, at times reminiscent of the White Stripes’ early material, essentially a garage rock ballad underpinned by a guitar hook positively dripping with reverb. 'Set Me Free' also offers a brief respite from the intensity of the opening tracks, in as much as chunky guitar riffs and regimental drums can be called a respite. Enjoy the break though, because when drummer Haggai Fershtman takes flight on 'Spit It On Your Face', you can almost smell the sweat cascading down his hairy back.
The eight track record wraps up with 'As Noise' and 'Hunt You Down'. The former opens with a passage of a capella howling, but before you get the chance to work out if it’s Hebrew or English, a wall of bass, guitars and feedback comes down between your ears, and stays there.
'Closer, Hunt You Down', is the album’s odd one out – doing away with the bass in favour of the organ, and sparingly using the guitar to support Shalev’s cries of “I’m gonna hunt you down”. It seems a strange way to close the album, in that you are let down gently, rather than hurled down the side of a mountain of noisy rock.
Monotonix have crafted a formidable sound, giving up refinement for sheer bestial power. The result is organic, not in the way that organic chemistry is organic, but in the way that killing a wild moose with your bare hands and eating it raw is organic.
by Nils Hay
+
Share on Facebook