Music: Sluice

Of all the amazing things about Sluice's brand new emocharged album, this takes the cake: Drummer Chris Dawson reportedly nailed every insane beat and fill first take in the studio - much to the delight of Steve Tyner at Black Cat Recording who was overheard exclaiming, "F***ing A!" when the exceptionally-gifted musician blew through his parts on Hopeless Contrarian in one go. And while guitarist/vocalist Bobo Bohannon, guitarist Zach Ortiz and bassist/vocalist Mitch Angle didn't quite achieve that level of perfection during the recording sessions, they certainly held their own, delivering blistering performances that, as a whole, have resulted in a fantastic full-length follow-up to 2020's self-titled EP.

Songwriting for Hopeless Contrarian actually began just before the recording of the EP and continued on right up until Sluice reconvened with Tyner back in May. Bohannon, the band's primary creative force, sparked the majority of ideas while holed-up during the pandemic. But it was Angle's "Satellite" that was ultimately singled out to promote the album. A mix of old school punk and the edgier elements of emo, its frantic tempo and impassioned lyrical refrain - "You don't care anymore!" - with vocal interplay between Angle and Bohannon make for a killer introduction to one of the tri-state's best original albums in recent memory.

Still, it's Bohannon's intricate guitar riffs, clever arrangements, sardonic lyrics and cigarette-induced raspy screams that put Hopeless Contrarian over the top, creating, in his words, a "cosmic gumbo." If nothing else, this new release shows just how quickly his talent is developing, with Ortiz, Angle and Dawson gamely keeping pace and then some - standouts such as "Never Enjoyed Anything Ever" and "Sludge" sound like instant emo classics by a seasoned band. The former's nearly-grinding-to-a-halt, thick-as-mud chorus is a total epiphany while the latter's melodic melancholy driven by Edge-like echoing guitar may be Sluice's finest musical moment - complemented perfectly by Bohannon's engaging wordplay: "Blackened leaves fuse together in sludge/ Grab me by the ankles and never budge."

That lyrical inventiveness shines throughout, particularly on the aching title track and angry "Cull," though the singer's humorous side is always within reach as heard on "Hospital? Trashcan!" and "Unreliable Narrator."

L-R: DAWSON, BOHANNON, ORTIZ, ANGLE

Elsewhere, "Nuke the Sun," a 75-second barnburner, was reportedly written in 15 inspirational minutes. "Ghost," while standard song-length, never lets up as Dawson pounds away with abandon, executing lightning-fast drum rolls that are topped only by a ridiculously long assault on the skins in "Think Again, Friendarino" - which he jokingly regrets as it will be a bitch to recreate live. We'll see if Dawson can pull it off on December 4 at The Venue when Sluice performs Hopeless Contrarian in full.