7AM

Pigpower Records, 2018

7am

Just like the unrefined grinding sludgy sound of The Wailing Ultimate - The Homestead Records Compilation, which represents the prototype of the lo-fi production of the nineties, 7AM features the same type of do-it-yourself attitude towards making music which stays close to the edge. Without grandiose production pretentions, with turned-up amps and a flush of emotion, the German-Slovene band launched a forthright and provocative debut.
The first piece Hansi and Gretzl addresses us with a seemingly naive combination of fragility in the style of The Shaggs and bluntness in the style of Calvin Johnson and his Beat Happening; yet distortion removes any joke. The sonic barrier hits the ear and although there are moments when it seems the band hangs over the precipice, in the imminence of falling apart, it never does. Their songs stand sound and firm, even though they give electrically-coloured sounds free reign to engulf the listener and entrance them with its contrast of fiery aggression and gentle sonorities.
Throughout the recording noisy guitar motifs progress in a way that does not only bring back the underground rock scene from the late eighties and early nineties, but much more. Even though the guitar riffs reminiscent of J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr cannot be overlooked, the punk-like base charms us, extracting the essence of Kathy Foster with The Thermals. 7AM is therefore on the same frequency as its contemporaries, such as Japandroids, Cloud Nothings, No Age, The Men, Titus Andronicus and Male Bonding, among others.