Faking
Goddamn Cowards
The ears dont lie. If you want poser-free noise rock in 2016, Faking is a band that nails it, and Goddamn Cowards is their bloody hammer of a debut album (and second release for Reptilian Records). A solid built Philly trio featuring former members of the now legendary Midiron Blast Shaft and Gunna Vahm, Faking is Jeff Bowne on guitar and vocals, Phil Schorn on drums, and Mark Diehl on bass. Goddamn Cowards picks up where Fakings two song Reptilian 7" left off, ratcheting up the sonic violence. Driven by massive, wide open percussive battery, and propulsive bass churn, throaty vocals spin minimalist tales of shitty people doing shitty things over intricate, dissonant guitar lines that snake through the menace, adding complex layers of Duane Denison-esque weirdness and upping the creep factor. Blending the aggressive direct-drive chokehold of American hardcore, the angular and insistent rhythms of Shellac, and a general sense of unease, Goddamn Cowards is a late night amber alert on the highway, an audible threat climate built on tension, repetition, and release - a reminder, thankfully, that the world isnt getting any friendlier.