Lower Forms

Though the 2011 album by Portland trio Rabbits came out on the boutique metal label Relapse Records, Lower Forms resonates with the same scuzzy, lo-fi mix heard on Rabbits' preceding recordings (described on their Facebook page as “punk-sludge-thrash-trash”). The feral “Burn, Sun, Burn” has guitars detuned so low that there’s no need for a bass. Guitarists Sethro and Booze go head-to-head with filthy distorted riffs blasting over the spastic rhythms of drummer KC. “A Tale of Tales” follows with a faster pace as Rabbits play the sort of unhinged sonic attack that recalls a time when the underground Pacific Northwest scene thrived in the days before Sub Pop released Nirvana’s Bleach. “Noise to Share” is a sonic temper tantrum encrusted in grime; it’s as if the band recorded the song on scratched tape while throwing dirt clods around the studio. Throughout Lower Forms, Sethro's and Booze’s twin vocal screams erupt like a young, double-tracked Gibby Haynes. There are some magic moments in “Duck, the Pigs” that sound as if Locust Abortion Technician–era Haynes were fronting Karp.