Cassette Review: Flesh Narc "Optical Intrusion"

[$5 // Edition of 25 // https://fleshnarc.bandcamp.com/album/optical-intrusion] 

The music of Flesh Narc is not one which I can simply pin down by comparing them with a single band, although the combination at play here makes me feel as if I should be able to do just that.    It is the fact that I have heard these pieces before, sure, but never together like this.

What on the surface could feel like punk or art rock has elements of skramz to it as well, if only because of the sheer chaos.   It's nasally vocals with twangy guitars that are the less hardcore version of Fear Before the March of Flames.     At times I can hear the Vandals coming out and at other points there are musical portions dedicated to Primus.

I like to think of everything from Atom and His Package to Evasive Backflip in this one and that is not a bad spread.   Along with the musical stylings which seem unpredictable, there are words spoken and sung which do seem to fit together as songs and can tell a story yet they feel so random.

From talking about running away because he has a lot of trail mix to name dropping 311, the contents of these songs might seem all over the place but they will have you listening.   If you at some point should find yourself not really paying attention, you will be forced to stop what you're doing in a "What did he just say?" kind of way because you'll wonder if he did in fact say what you thought he said.

Should there be more bands that sound like this?  I don't know and I don't care because as long as we have Flesh Narc we have a band that does and that's all that matters.   But more bands should draw from these similar influences, which may or may not includes the likes of Tora Tora Torrance and create their own sound because while I really do feel like this should go into a nice, neat package it simply does not and perhaps that is what I like most about it.    Coca-Cola.