Music: Quietly "Unfortunate Sound" tape

One thing: this tape sounds fuckin' huge. Guitars, bass and vocals all smear together in this cavernous sound-mass. Lo-fi to an extent, but not messy, as every instrument is played with precision, rooted by relentless, massive-sounding drumming.

Seemingly drawing inspiration from European post-punk and 90's American alternative rock in equal measure, the chord progressions are all tension-and-release, very dense and swathed in room-reverb and distortion while vocalist, Kara Stafford's darkly melodic singing cuts then dissipates.

It's easy to mistake Stafford's voice for that of a man's, as she sings primarily in a rich tenor that's almost other-worldly, unnatural at times and very affecting. She's like a spectre, man. Real urgent haunting.

Hints of Bauhaus emerge in the music but there's a certain sadness to highlights like "In the Mouth of the Wolf" and "Borrow Tomorrow" that Bauhaus and those other Goth-originators could never achieve from behind their makeup and fake cobwebs. This is evident in the lyrics as well, collected inside the j-card, though barely legible. Waiting, for something cryptic but probably very heavy, is a recurring theme. (And wait you should: there's a "hidden" track at the end of Side 2.)

Totally unlike any other punk in Nashville, and it's a steal at $2 from local retailers. Color ink-jet printed insert. Self-released. Recomended!