Scream Into The Void. The Downhauls

A new EP by The Downhauls is a sure welcome record. The band has a subscription to this blog, it is safe to say by now. Scream Into the Void brings highly energised punkrock by an all women band that score quite good on my Veruca Salt meter.

The Downhauls is a four piece band from Boston, using all nicknames: Chrissy V: guitar and vox; Ivahna Rock: bass; LoWreck: drums and percussion and Rochelle: lead guitar, with background and harmony vocals by Tai Heatley. And it's these vocals that make the EP even better. They provide the light in the ever forward driven source of energy. As this is what defines this band more than anything else. Sparks fly could be the The Downhauls' middle name.

The single is, 'Hazy Shade Of Winter', introduced as a cover version of The Bangles' version of the Simon & Garfunkel song. Which is a totally right description. The song rocks so much more than the original and easily tops The Bangles as well, as The Downhauls are not out to please and please even more, perhaps despite itself. All the pop elements come out in a glorious manner.

The second single is opener 'Don't Care', which has that same quality. Chrissy V shows that she can write a punkrock song of significance herself. The song has some great light and shade in the dynamics, some huge screams and again, great harmonies. It's not for nothing I'm laying out my Veruca Salt meter here. The Downhauls deserve it every note in the song.

Promo photos

Listen to all the melodies the band found when arranging 'Spit The Poison Out'. This is not a song that was conceived in one go. Carefully the band must have explored the options the melody offered and tried them all until a perfect combination was created and recorded. 'Spit The Poison Out' holds a lot of energy and then all the extras were added, making the song better if not best.

The same goes for the even more energised 'Blindsight'. The hypertempo makes subtlety far harder and in comes Tai Heatley to sing harmonies with Chrissy V and Bingo! It shows the quality The Downhauls is able to bring to its songs.

Screaming into the void ought to become something of the past and fast. Screaming into thousands and thousands of fans' ears should be the correct title for this EP.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Scream Into The Void here:

https://thedownhauls.bandcamp.com/album/scream-into-the-void