Album review: Jivebomb – ETHEREAL

You want ethereal? You’re not getting it – not with Jivebomb, anyway. It’s a title that could almost be said with sarcasm, for the Baltimore noisemakers’ debut album is about as ethereal as your average demolition. They’ve loudly pronounced what they aren’t, but what are they instead? The short answer: nasty as fuck. The longer answer: nasty, but with more nuance than first appears.

At first listen, ETHEREAL feels like a merciless quarter of an hour, as Jivebomb rip through their material like they’re hungering to tear throats open. Return to it, and it becomes more considered, more calculated. Opening with a screeching, hissing soundscape, THE IMPACT flaunts both a sense of grit and groove as it slowly immerses those listening into the meat-grinder like quality of their sonic world. ESTRELA twists the words of Billie Holiday into a relentless body slam of a track, while SURVIVAL AIN’T TAUGHT is hardcore with hip-hop DNA, flexing a muscular sense of aggression with rap’s cocksure attitude. 'It’s survival and you’re looking weak / Stepped on the whole team that’s the life you lead,' singer Kat Madeira declares in an eye-wateringly low growl – and in her, hardcore has a brightly burning new star.

The other thing Jivebomb are especially strong in is their sense of pace. WISE CHOICE bristles with a smart swagger, the thrashy RHYTHM ZERO zips along at speedometer-breaking tempo and the hulking SERAPHIM (MARINA’S SONG) sludgy opening makes its hair-raising acceleration into a faster rhythm dizzying. Their impact is brutal and swift, but its brevity is a strength and possibly a relief – any longer, and the record’s ruthlessness could eventually feel wearying. It’s denser than what many of their peers do too, but refreshingly different.

Some records of this ilk make you run through walls, but ETHEREAL will make you want to blast the walls into dust brick by brick.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: BRAT, Pest Control, Speed

Jivebomb’s debut album ETHEREAL is released on March 28 via Flatspot Records. The band play Outbreak in the UK this summer.