The last time I showed WHORES. to somebody, I told them to consider it Trap music for metal heads.  In no way should that be considered an insult. WHORES. is this wild, aggressive sludge-noise trio that have managed to take the everlasting pop-formula of our time and turn it into some of the meanest, ugliest-nonetheless-catchy tracks you’ll hear.   It’s belligerent, it’s simple, it kills.

Following up off of 2011’s Ruiner, Clean shows a different kind of development.  Generally as listeners we find ourselves looking for change in an artist.  What I hear from WHORES. on this follow up is basically Act II of Ruiner, in a fantastic way; as the extension of the anger into a more fulfilling song format.

“BABY BIRD” drops us right into the heat. The repeated theme I’m goin’ out tonight, and I don’t care who knows/if you’re coming is easily the origin of my Trap comparison.  This groove is the highly danceable, sing-a-long opener of most pop records.  However, the beauty is in the aggression.  Their “good times, bad vibes” theme settles in as the acapella  I have these terrible dreams, fallin from the nest, I break and I’m free guides us into the next party banger, “LAST LOOKS.”

Motifs of ‘going out’ and ‘leaving tonight’ ring throughout the release.  The idea of being crazy and irrational is pumped into your head throughout “LAST LOOKS” until our arrival at “I AM NOT A GOAL ORIENTED PERSON,” which to me seems as the most dissonant track on the album – and not just based on the name.  Lyrically, I enjoy what seems like a conscious attack on what I’ll refer to as the bad part of feminism: all the girls are professional by desires , all the men are dogs.  It comes across as a disagreement with the recent wave of faux, over-the-top feminism, it seems as though the lyrics are relating to a similar relation with one of these kinds of people through idealism from the same side of the fogged argument.  Once again, we see the intelligent simplicity of the music.

“COUGARS, NOT KITTENS” begins to drive that ideal home. This groovy track begins to underline this concept that the entire work that is Clean is heavily based on one specific, possibly long term interaction.  The I hope, it breaks, your heart is an extremely elegant, nonetheless powerful moment in the record before another chorus and the droning outro.  This is the centerpiece of the record.

The more experimental “BLUE BLOOD” has an intriguing line in Christian Lembach’s insane-person screams, why can’t a man like me stay free?, that continues the albums concept right into the ender, “I AM AN AMATUER AT EVERYTHING.”

[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=346079823 size=medium bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]

This is the truly sludge, head-banger.  Turns out I’m an amateur at everything, I can’t calm down leads into the BURN YOUR BODY, ERASE YOUR NAME, BURN YOUR BODY, BURN IT CLEAN hook that brings full circle that party-record, sing-a-long liveliness.  Being the technical title track, it sums up the existence from relationship to it’s end, into the unpredictable-yet-expected reciprocation of – in simpler terms – fucking yourself up to forget and enjoy yourself.

It’s a quick, easy listen. Anyone has the time and the mindset, making this record more accessible than most in terms of WHORES.’s genre. They’re the new sludge.

3.8/5

https://whores.bandcamp.com/

REWRITE: I have misinterpreted “I AM NOT A GOAL ORIENTED PERSON.” Vocalist, Christian Lembach has informed me that: “It’s ‘professional by design,’ and it means the opposite of what you think it means. It’s an attack on loser dudes.”