IN REVIEW: '68 - "Two Parts Viper"

Former member of revered heavy bands Norma Jean and The Chariot Josh Scogin first launched '68 with drummer Michael McClellan in late 2013, with their debut album In Humor and Sadness coming the following summer. A restless, unhinged record, In Humor and Sadness proved Scogin a skilled songwriter with a penchant for wild detours and wild performances.

Two Parts Viper more or less picks up where that album left off, with the incendiary salvo Eventually We All Win and the scuzzy groovefest Whether Terrified or Unafraid. Differences start to emerge on following track Without Any Words (Only Crying and Laughter), a more standardized hard rocker with its quirks kept under the surface; that said, it's no bid for stardom, rather a sweaty and nocturnal interpretation of grunge as filtered through, say, Death From Above.

This Life is Old, New, Borrowed and Blue is the album's madcap masterpiece, a groove-laden crowd pleaser that gets from Point A to Point B using the most complicated and unconventional route possible (stopping dead for a lullaby, shifting through four or five tempos, to start). Maybe if Jack White joined Dillinger Escape Plan, it might sound something like this, and I realize how insane that sounds.

It's the spirit of that song that bleeds over into the rest of the record, with '68 trying their hands at intense balladry (No Montage), spoken word-laced off kilter blues (No Apologies), demented post-grunge (The Workers Are Few), warped industrial doom (Life Has its Design), Sonic Youth flavored math sludge (Death is a Lottery) and dénouement turned throat shredding affirmation epic (What More Can I Say).

Yes, there's a lot going on here, and that it holds together despite the ground it covers in its 32 minutes speaks volumes about Scogin's abilities as a songwriter. There are bands in the same sonic neighbourhood (say, Royal Blood, for instance) who do this aesthetic more consistently and therefore will always be more popular, but there's something to be said for a record as boundlessly creative as Two Parts Viper. While they may call to mind a few other bands over the course of this album, I have to admit there aren't many bands that sound quite like '68.

June 2, 2017 • Chariot Music/Cooking Vinyl
Highlights Whether Terrified or Unafraid • Without Any Words (Only Crying and Laughter) • This Life is Old, New, Borrowed and Blue