SOME
REVIEWS
BOXES
ANIMAL
album number three from this irish based two piece featuring mark hayes
on drums and gavin cowley on bass and vocals. the album is another superb
slice of post punk, math rock, post rock and old style sludge rock. its
full of hard hitting but also quite intricate sounds with hints of no
means no, shellac, don caballero, jesus lizard, fugazi and all things
amphetamine reptile related.
Road
Records july 2008
“
With their complex rhythms, intricate guitar parts and full-on driving
sound, some inspired live performances have seen Boxes become one of the
most respected bands in Dublin”
Sunday Tribune
Boxes
is a two piece angular/noise rock band based in Dublin, although I’m
sure they originally hail from Offaly. ‘Bad Blood’, released
on Dutch label Laterax, is their second full length album and the follow
up to ‘Big Ships in the Night, Small Boats In The Morning’,
their first album which saw the light of day back in August 2003. So who
better to get to produce this new batch of songs other than the legendary
Steve Albini, the lads having recorded in his equally legendary Electrical
Audio studio in Chicago. Albini does his job but Gavin (guitars, bass
and vocals) and Mark (drums and possibly vocals) really do theirs. Highlights
are plentiful. ‘Rourke’ kicks things off, Mastodon-esque playing
nailing the song down. ‘Name me’ is Slint with Bruce Springsteen
on vocals. Well kind of. ‘Walk Man’ has an almost pop chorus
decimated by spiky guitars and rhythms while ‘Same Again’
has a vocal normally found on recordings by The Ex. Surrounding these
high points are turnes with an array of NoMeansNo and Shellac inspired
armoury. Go get.
Unfit For Consumption Zine
The second album from this Dublin-based outfit, recorded with Steve Albini
in his Electrical Audio studios in Chicago, is an 11 track album on the
Laterax label. The album is a perfect blend of clever post punk sounds,
of the likes of NoMeansNo, and the stop-start heavy guitar math rock sounds
on Shellac - a rather superb noise from just a two piece outfit.
Road Records
66.6% of Midlands muffworshippers Boxes return - Albinified - with a second
album of confounding yet catchy speed-math morsels ready to nutmeg the
nation’s moshpits. Now a duo, they jizz up a couple of tracks from
their first record and insert some live favourites from the past three
years to make one satisfied hole. Using the latest studio wizardry the
Alb has somehow reinstated the missing member too, so it’s titillating
time-sigs, geometric guitar, and berblexing bassbizness as usual. They
even throw in some stern vocals but you can’t help thinking that
because they’re concentrating so damn hard they forgot to sing on
half the tracks. Well worth risking a transfusion. 86%
Mongrel Maazine
The
Dublin-based two-piece Boxes recorded with Steve Albini for this album,
but it's not Albini's typically straightforward production that makes
Bad Blood a success. Unlike a lot of acts that experiment with odd time
signatures and complex song structures, Boxes inject as much heart as
head into their work. They're still man-machines, but they play with feeling.
Consequently, the title track, the humorous, cyclical "Walk Man"
and the punishing math-rocker "Q8S" express a kind of joie de
vivre that's often lacking in the fiercely cerebral exercises whipped
up by the international crowd of serious, college-educated young men who
dominate this brand of guitar-driven music. Put away your calculators,
boys, and enjoy. The
Daily Page
Proving that The Redneck Manifesto don’t have a Dublin monopoly
on asymmetric post-rock, Boxes are Gavin Cowley, who plays guitar/bass
and drummer Mark Hayes. One distinct difference is that there are several
vocal tracks with both doing the honours. The result is a spiky collection
of intricate melodies and frantic compositions. 'Name Me' and 'Walkman'
build on repetitive arrangements that almost borrow classical arrangements,
but this is no-nonsense rock. The fantastic Philip Capice closes this
energetic gem.
U Magazine
Minimalistic
and square, claustrophobic and complex. Boxes are two guys from Dublin
and Boxes are a rock band. Boxes sound like migraine: painful, reduced
and intense. Edgy riffs on top of complicated rhythms, but yet: punk without
prog. A reverby voice ??'s and barks. It's not pleasant, but it doesn't
want to be pleasant. Bad Blood is already the second album and was recorded
by Steve Albini himself in his Electrical Audio studio in Chicago. This,
and the fact that the Boxes have already accompanied old axes like Nomenasno
and Dinosaur Jr., one can interpret as a proof of potential. But Boxes
really don't make it easy on you to like them. Anyway Bod Blood sounds
like the band is playing in your living room. And the songs are edgy,
against average listing abilities (..or something). Music for bad days,
grinding teeth and a fist in your pocket. Music for days on which one
doesn't want to feel better.
One
Take Magazine
Boxes
| Bad Blood
Kale hectische rock met een mathcorerandje.
CD, Laterax
tekst: Sven SchlijperBoxes komt uit Dublin, Ierland. Boxes bestaat uit
naar het zich laat aanzien slechts twee heren. Boxes brengt zijn album
Bad Blood uit op het Nederlandse Laterax label. Als je dacht daarmee de
broodnodige droge info bij elkaar te hebben, weet dan dat de grote Steve
Albini – natuurlijk in zijn eigen Electric Audio studio in Chicago
– voor de opnamen tekent.
Vier dagen opnemen in de Windy City levert een album op dat in de verste
verte niet klinkt als The White Stripes, hoewel de bandbezetting van drummer/zanger
en gitarist/zanger hetzelfde beeld laat zien. Vloeken in de kerk zelfs
voor Jack White, want Boxes gebruikt wel een basgitaar. Geen blues, geen
garagerock, maar bijzonder heftige, van de hak op de tak springende hard-mathcore/slugderock,
die zowel aan stoner als aan A Trillion Barnacle Lapse doet denken.
Deze Ieren houden wel van een drankje of een blowtje en doen soms lekker
loom rustig aan, maar halen zo nu dan ook het telraam tevoorschijn om
gecalculeerde complexiteit op de luisteraar los te laten. Soms stoomt
Boxes rechttoe rechtaan, soms hink-stap-springt het ritme en de melodie
jolig over de volledige breedte van het speelveld. Stop Don Caballero,
Slint, The Ex, Shellac en een vleugje postpunk in een blender en het goedje
in de beker vertoont enige gelijkenis met Boxes; al naar gelang je stemming.
Mathematisch ingewikkeld, tot op het bot gestript van productionele foefjes
en volkomen onnavolgbaar is elke luisterbeurt van Bad Blood een nieuwe
ontdekkingstocht. Een nummer van Boxes neurie je niet zo 1-2-3 na. Dat
mag een caveat heten voor de één; het geldt als een aanrader
voor de liefhebber van kale hectische rock met een mathcorerandj |
