Armedalite Rifles | Art is a Weapon
(Wrinky Dink Records)
Armedaliterifles.bandcamp.com
No longer a plastic relic, the peerless vinyl platter crushed CD sales last year for the first time since the ’80s. It’s the ideal format for Armedalite Rifles, Pine Bush’s own raucous agents of cacophony and punk pop who waste no time punching you in the viscera when the needle hits the groove. Citing the Residents, the Ramones, King Crimson, and Einsturzende Neubauten as influences, the Rifles consist of James Pogo on guitar and vocals, Lincoln St. James on bass and vocals, and, simply, Greg on drums. They savagely strike on “All That Makeup” and “The Way Out is Up”—thrashable, yet restrained, tracks with melodic sensibilities (adding the obligatory degree of discord, natch). But beware the abrupt lobbing of bombs: For these punks, a power drill makes music and art is an assault. The record is dedicated to Pogo’s late hero and dad, Jay LoRubbio, who also plays bass on parts of it.
This article appears in August 2021.
