Recorded with legendary Chicago engineer Steve Albini, The Incessant is a bracing, emotional punk record that confronts taking responsibility for your actions with dark humour and self-deprecation. It draws major influence from The Breeders, Hot Snakes, and even Fiona Apple as much as Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex and the poems of Emily Dickinson.
There is something homely to be felt when listening to The Incessant by Meat Wave, feeling like a punk track that was constructed with aged pedals in one of the band members’ garden shed or bedroom, the rustic nature of the audio makes you feel as if the record was made DIY-style. But its where the album comes onto its own, with most tracks at the beginning of the record only being two minutes long, the record edges along at a bite-sized pace.
It’s classically tenacious and throws the listener straight into the action – with To Be Swayed, Tomosaki and Run You Out both wanting you to jump into a bloodied red pool of punkish furore.
Just a little bit childish and cheeky, there’s a youthful rebelliousness that can be infectiously inflicted from the shoutey, tantric vocals of Chris Sutter. The tempo is rushed and feels like it is infused with ketamine and caffeine, but in a good way – it keeps the listener hooked and not left idling on the road, finding the punkish sweet spot.
