I couldn't shake the sense that there might be something to these guys. Even though I found a high percentage of the live clips cringeworthy and annoying, I definitely found something interesting about it, too. so I picked up both of their albums. I thought listening to the recorded material might help me figure out if these guys have something to them, or if they are just waaay too much pretentious scenester BS.

I've only listened to their first album so far. I can't say that there are any real "songs" on it. Which isn't a bad thing. But I am a few days out from listening to it, and I can't recall much except for a lot meandering solo drumming and some atonal accapella group chanting. I remember thinking that it seemed like they were screaming gutteral nonsense just for the sake of screaming. like maybe these guys don't have any real substance to them, but they want to seem hardcore and intense, so they do little lazy blasts of mathy tempos and screaming to give that impression. I don't mean lazy in a performance / energy way. I mean like in a writing / composition way. They certainly seem to be giving the material legs with their colourful, spazzed-out live shows, but on record the intense stuff just comes across as recycled. Even though they might place it uniquely admidst some tribal drumming or electronic beats or accapella wankery, it still sounds like something I heard done to death by bands in the late 90s.

I dunno. I'll reserve final judgement until I listen to the new album.

This video ain't helpin' matters any, though:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLj23sbIkLY&NR=1

The s/t album is not the most original thing, but I found myself enjoying it more the more I listened to it. They do just kind of pile a lot of "hip" sounds on top of each other without much in the way of real songs underneath, but just as a piece of music taken as a whole, it works well almost in spite of itself. I mean, what's wrong with "screaming gutteral nonsense just for the sake of screaming"? I don't see why it should have to translate into any kind of literal outrage expressed through the actual lyrics. And I don't know about trying to seem "hardcore". They position themselves as a noise band and therefore make noise, but they do so pretty musically, with good energy, momentum, and dynamics.

What are the late 90s bands that did this to death? (I feel like this is one of those questions I won't get an answer to.) I hear clear links to Liars, Deerhoof, Boredoms, Sightings, Beaches & Canyons-era Black Dice, and the noisier side of Animal Collective, but of those only the Boredoms were doing anything like this in the late 90s. The major fault of HEALTH's debut is probably that they don't add much of their own to that mix.

Get Color is indeed more distinctive, although that is largely brought about by the overuse of certain sounds and effects that have become really popular with like-minded bands who use them with a little more discretion. There are more developed songs this time around though, especially "Die Slow", which is really pretty great. This album wasn't quite the mind-blowing development I was hoping for, but it does show them both narrowing down just what it is that makes HEALTH unique, and tailoring their compositions more into real songs.

(I'm probably gonna copy and paste most of this into my review thread when the time comes.)

man, that video makes me glad i balked at paying $14 to see them.

Yeah, I've never really enjoyed any live clips I've seen of these guys.

Swing Kids, hose.got.cable, the Hal Al Shedad, Saetia, and even Refused had some of that going on back in the 90s. I'm thinking of bands that were more of a DIY precursor to what became known as "Screamo" or whatever. There were just a lot of bands doing some dissonant, spastic post-hardcore stuff. To be honest, I haven't really listened to the Boredoms, Deerhoof, or any of those bands, so perhaps I am missing a more modern, next-wave sort of point of reference.

Anyhoo, yeah, i'll get back to you after I check out Get Color.

Yeah, I don't really hear the common thread with screamo, and I don't think that's where they're coming from. I'm not really familiar with any of the bands you mentioned other than Refused (who I've never really liked and haven't really listened to much), but from what sound clips I could find (only Saetia - who I think I've heard before - and Swing Kids), they're pretty much what I'd expect from the genre. I don't really think there's a direct link from that to what HEALTH is doing. Maybe there's a little Refused in there, but if Refused was their major influence, they'd be taking major steps beyond that. The bands I mentioned are much closer, and they are by no means a "next-wave" of screamo by any stretch. There are some math rock ties, though, at least with Deerhoof (to Colassamite, Gorge Trio, and Sicbay).

I didn't mean to imply that HEALTH or any of the other bands you mentioned were related to screamo at all. I don't apply that term to the bands I mentioned, either - I think those bands were just doing some next level shit at the time, and eventually some bands brought a slicker version of it to a more mainstream audience where it took off and got labeled emo / screamo or whatever. I don't equate that end product to the more interesting / raw bands that were the impetus for the sound.

Anyway, make me a mix with the best tracks from those bands, willya

I'd love to if I can find the time.

Agee with all of this. The similarity to the bands you mentioned here I think is pretty much spot on and I was hoping HEALTH would really distance themselves with more noise on this album and it didn't happen. Instead of going more Acid Mothers, they seem to have gone more OOIOO, but they did it well. I still think there are hints of something really great on both albums, and hope that as these guys keep exploring actual song construction/craft that they will put out the record that I think they are capable of (then again I thought the same thing about Sissy Spacek and have given up them recently, so who knows).

Anyways, I am still liking the record, and still think they are possibly the best live show I have seen this year and am a bit confused by how many are disinterested in their live show.