HELLMODE

One of my all time favorite albums, HELLMODE is the album that shifted my taste of music drastically into the punk sound. Music tastes are very malleable, and this is one of the albums that helped mold my own.

To the unprepared ear, HELLMODE is an explosion of noise, and shouting, and lacks any cohesion that makes music enjoyable, but if that unprepared ear takes time to embrace the noise, shouting, and seeming lack of cohesion, that untrained ear will become trained to see the beauty in said noise.

HELLMODE is a profoundly moving album, dealing with themes of isolation, climate change, and political frustration, all backed by an anger that knows the powers that be could, and should, be doing so much better. Jess Rosenstock deals with self doubt, and loss of identity, and delivers an album that starts in 6th gear and doesn't stop. Running hard over the first few tracks, the tempo lets off a bit for the three songs SOFT LIVING, LIFE ADMIN, and HEALMODE, three more tender tracks, with a hopeful undertone. I al2ways appreciate a respite on a "harder" rock album, and essential element. Listeners need time to breath, and Rosenstock hits the nail on the head here.

The album closes excellently with a GRAVEYARD SONG and 3 SUMMERS. I could write essays about the content of these songs, but in an effort to keep this review readable, I'll close the content section with the following: these songs are brilliantly written, and they deal with these complex issues fantastically.

Instrumentally, HELLMODE is a masterclass in chaos, somehow holding itself together tightly. The guitar work is jarring, unpredictable, yet beautifully toned. It is a relentless album, drums crashing with manic urgency, dragging the music along with them as they sprint away. When it risks becoming too much, Rosenstock expertly pulls back, stripping the sound back on tracks like SOFT LIVING and LIFE ADMIN.

It is a record that gives as much meaning in the sound, messy, chaotic, urgent, as it does in the lyrical matter. HELLMODE isn't loud for loud's sake, its loud because it needs to say something, and the only way it can be heard of the brown noise of modern life is to scream it. It's not the easiest listen, but it is without a doubt and essential one.