Retox: Ugly Animals (Ipecac, 8/23/11)
Retox: “30 Cents Shy of a Quarter”
[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Retox-30-cents-shy-of-a-quarter.mp3|titles=Retox: “30 Cents Shy of a Quarter”]Featuring Justin Pearson and Gabe Serbian of The Locust and Holy Molar, Michael Crain of Kill the Capulets and The Festival of Dead Deer, and solo artist Thor Dickey, Retox has roots in some of the most challenging bands to come out of West Coast DIY punk and hardcore over the past few decades.
On this debut LP, 11 furious and fast-paced tracks blaze past in just 13 minutes. It’s noisy and angry but has plenty of riff hooks, balancing speed and intricacy with easily digestible melodies over Serbian’s plentiful fills. According to the band, its existence is owed, in part, to stagnant counterculture, and that’s apparent on suggestively titled tracks such as “Boredom is Counter-Revolutionary.”