Guttermouth

New Car Smell EP

Written by: PP on 28/12/2016 21:10:05

When Guttermouth announced their second EP of 2016 after a ten-year absence, most fans found it puzzling because why wouldn't you just group the eleven songs on a full-length instead. Well, the five tracks on "New Car Smell" answer that question loud and clear. Where "Got It Made" EP was on the melodic side despite retaining the signature style Guttermouth caricature humour, grouping the "New Car Smell" songs together with them just wouldn't make sense. They are darker, more twisted, and certainly on the ridiculous side of Guttermouth, more in line with the material we last heard on the absurd "Shave The Planet" back in 2006. Alas, two separate EPs it is.

Stylistically, songs like "Perma Walkabout" draw heavily from the hardcore punk scene. Not only is the tempo faster and more aggressive than anything on "Got It Made", but the guitars are tuned lower, the vocals are edgier, and the song structures are riddled with experimental elements. "Soundtrack To The End Of The World", for instance, has a metallic cringe to its screeching guitar solos. Elsewhere, gang shouts and chants are used alongside utterly strange vocal patterns (the title track being the perfect example), most of it not for the betterment of the song. In that sense, "New Car Smell" EP is Guttermouth at their finest: sounding like the weirdest punk band around doing ridiculous stuff on record just because they can.

Unfortunately, it's just too strange most of the time. Forgetting the importance of a good melody like those on the preceding EP, the songs basically sound like Guttermouth fucking around in the studio for their own amusement. A fair attitude and approach, but not exactly what the fans are looking for. With essentially only "Spud Like Torso" worth a repeat listen, "New Car Smell" EP is a dud, especially when comparing it to the melody explosion of "Got It Made" EP earlier this year.

Download: Spud Like Torso, Mail Order Bride
For the fans of: Frenzal Rhomb, Chixdiggit, The Dwarves, The Vandals
Listen: Facebook

Release date 25.11.2016
Rude Records / Bird Attack Records

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