Usman's SSR Pick: August 25, 2022

I remember when the first RASHŌMON record came out, I didn’t know anything about the band. At the time I thought it was silly the release was a single sided 12”. Why not just make a 7”? I was working at Sorry State soon after the repress came out, and I found myself packing up copy after copy. Naturally when this happens, I listen to the record right away. And if I’m lucky, I just discovered a new banger to add to my collection. The same thing happened to me with another one of Iron Lung’s releases, HOLOGRAM. Except I was too late to the party on this one. By the time I finally listened to it we had already sold out of our copies. So anyway, I thought it was silly the RASHŌMON 12” was single sided, but that didn’t matter at all to me once I laid that hot ass slab down onto my player. The intensity blew me away. The sound is pretty chaotic, but the instruments are like totally locked in still. It reminded me a bit of some classic Japanese hardcore bands, but it wasn’t totally on the nose by any means. It doesn’t sound like they are trying too hard to sound like certain “style,” and I think that adds to their appeal a lot.

So I’ve been kind of out the loop with stuff since we were on tour for a month on a different continent. I had no idea RASHŌMON had a new release until last night when Jeff was busting open the parcels. Of course, the first thing I did was jam this motherfucker. And of course, it is yet another single sided 12” haha. I like this record a lot. I listened to it 3 times in a row last night. It has an extra pummeling intensity the first one did not. It kind of caught me off guard. The guitarist’s strumming hand is fucking insane. In contrast with the last record, this record sounds more “focused” to me. Instead of a chaotic sound, the guitar playing seems more intentional or something like that. The leads are more melodic and the songs sound more dramatic, rather than having that “wanky” chaotic feel from the first record. Honestly some parts of the new one reminds me of a lead one might hear on a DEATH SIDE record. Do they sound like a Burning Spirit band? No. They still have their unique, organic blend of song writing. This band is excellent. As far as I know, the band is comprised of people from Washington DC and their vocalist is from Japan, where he currently lives. I saw this band some years ago while the vocalist was living in DC. It was insane. They perform so damn good. It was loud, it was intense, it was unrelenting. I think it may have been one of the most packed gigs at our house too, which of course added to the good times. If you ever have a chance to catch this band, don’t fuck up and miss them. Definitely check this record out, and you should probably buy a copy to add to your collection.

Going back to the single sided 12” thing before I go… Over some time, I realized that yes, the record will probably sound better as a single sided 12” cut at 45rpm rather than a double sided 7” cut at 33. But the main thing I thought, they probably saving a great deal of money on the plating of the record, right? Since it’s only one side being actually pressed. Maybe I am wrong about that though. Anyway, thanks as always for reading! And of course, thanks to everyone for the support. Peace!!


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