SMASHING TRANSISTORS - CONCUBINE FORMING "STIFF" 7" EP
Paging Doctor Albini. Doctor Steve Albini. There is some definite Big Black bootlickin' going on here. It's got the death metal drum machine (I can't confirm if it's name is Roland though) but a lot less precise. The guitars squeal and skid so it's like getting slashed with a rusty safety razor instead of being sliced by a laser. There's some moments though where it feels like figuring out calculus problems while having the Jesus Lizard on the headphones at cranked to ear piercing levels.
CARBON 14 - CONCUBINE FORMING "STIFF" 7" EP
Four cuts, crankin', spankin', and tighter than a nun's butter mound. Raw and bombastic. Hard not to think of Big Black cuz hell, they invented the punk rock drum machine band. This has bit more of an industrial edge, which is just fine by me! Simplistic in the guitar chords with some sweet, high-pitch spindling - perfect for this. Vocals seem a bit subdued in the mix, I'd like to hear those peaked a bit more. Great drum machine programming too, hard and forward with some catchy change ups to keep the guitarists in line and tight on the beat. We need more shit like this in the music world. More, more, more!
HORIZONTAL ACTION - CONCUBINE FORMING "STIFF" 7" EP
Drum machines. Are they being overused? Buffalo's Concubine Forming use dirty guitars and a robot drumbox for their debut release and believe it or not, it's actually good. Just like those few Big Black songs that make the cut, these tracks are just bent and angry enough to keep you interested. Still afraid of industrial music? Good, you should be. This is what it should have sounded like all along.
MAXIMUM ROCK-N-ROLL - CONCUBINE FORMING "STIFF" 7" EP
Four songs of drum-machine powered industro-punk, falling somewhere between Big Black and Nomeansno, with some metal/grunge swagger. Warped and twisted enough to be interesting.
GARAGE AND BEAT - CONCUBINE FORMING "STIFF" 7" EP
Industrial punk rock noise featuring a drum machine, Eric, Mike, Ed and their electronic percussive buddy get in your face with four aggressive blasts of venom, "Yo Mama," "Damn Good," "Arturo," and "Slow Learner." Harsh and unrelenting.
RAZORCAKE - CONCUBINE FORMING "STIFF" 7" EP
I can't believe it's 2003 (it is right?) and I'm listening to a song called "Yo Mama." Another thing I didn't expect is that it actually sounds a little like Big Black. A little punker, but with a similar robotic beat. How's this: I got the turntable this is playing on in an era when people still said "yo mama" a fair amount, and Big Black/Big Neck? Does that mean I'm drunk?
AMP (AMERICAN MUSIC PRESS) - CONCUBINE FORMING "STIFF" 7" EP
Buffalo N.Y.'s Concubine Forming are billed as an "industrial Punk Rock" band, but the sound is far more punk than industrial. Yes, there is a drum machine and that trademark pounding bass, but it pretty much ends there. The delivery is pure pissed off punk rock with fuzzed out guitar and screamed vox. I think it's quite good, and just off enough to be refreshing in the sea of synthpunk we're all floating in. Reccomended.
CYCLOPS ONLINE ZINE - CONCUBINE FORMING "STIFF" 7" EP
Concubine Forming’s “Stiff” 7 inch is their debut on Big Neck Records. These guys started in 1999 in Buffalo and have been making an unholy industrial racket ever since. Concubine Forming are two guitars, a bass and a drum machine. Basically these guys are a hard rock band who just happens to have a drum machine. Side A blasts off with “Yo Mama.” It starts off with a garage riff, then the drum machine kicks in and the full out heavy guitar assault begins. I do believe the chorus says it all, “Rock and Roller. Rock and Roller. Rock and Roller. Rock and Roller. “ “Damn Good” is a slower rocker with a real cool guitar solo. Side B leads off with “Arturo.” Now this is strange but cool song. It keeps you off balance with it’s off kilter rhythm and melody. The real slow heavy middle part is another surprise. The record ends with “Slow Learner.” It’s cool with its funky bass line and chiming guitar lead. The truth be told I think the band’s ultimate goal is to shred as many eardrums as possible. You should give yours up and give this record a try.
ROCTOBER - CONCUBINE FORMING "STIFF" 7" EP
Short walls of beautifully angry noise form a cubicle of nasty rock!
GARBAGE DUMP ZINE - CONCUBINE FORMING "STIFF" 7" EP
Wow, this is pretty weird.... coming from Buffalo, NY, here we have a self-proclaimed "industrial punk band". Well the industrial side of the thing is a drum-machine that gives a big, pounding fat sound I like a lot, the rest is pretty good schizoid punk played with nuts and psychotronic vocals... listening to it and looking at the cover picture I thought this is the perfect soundtrack for a killing spree, just put "Slow Learner" on when you're about to climb on top of the local supermarket to become the #1 mass-murderer in your own country and you will feel the urge to release that fuckin' hammerlock aiming for the more heads possible. Cool stuff going on this, it's got the primitive buzz and the right dose of sick sound to leave me satisfied. Another definitive BIG NECK wax to get your hands on NOW!!!
THE GUILT WILL KILL CD
SLEAZEGRINDER.COM - CONCUBINE FORMING "THE GUILT WILL KILL" CD
Straight outta that faraway snow-dump of a town, Buffalo, New York – which explains everything- the noise-rock terror train known as Concubine Forming return with a full-length of murderous, phlegmy ranting, jagged, dive-bombing garage-puke guitars, and a thumping, distorted drum machine, all mixed together like rat salad. This one was recorded in Memphis, so you'd think there'd be a little sunshine slicing through the murk, but no go, daddy-o. Loud, tortured, and blood-engorged, “The Guilt Will Kill” is lunacy, certainly, a swampy brace of dirty electrical surges that sound like Ministry interpreting the Sex Pistols. Or maybe like a shaky alcoholic trying to diffuse a bomb while angry Dobermans snap at him through a chain link fence. At any rate, it’s ugly and mean, and even tho Concubine Forming are probably just as scared of you as you are of them, this is still plenty fuckin’ scary, Jack.
CRIMEWAVE MAGAZINE - CONCUBINE FORMING "THE GUILT WILL KILL" CD
This is industrial punk rock mayhem. It's got fuzz guitars, a pounding bass, and having absolutely no use for a drummer whatsoever, instead they use the bombastic thud of a drum machine. I like what I hear from this band, it's different, and that's what I like. This has ten tracks of audio abuse that would be next to impossible for anyone to lay claim to. Recorded by Alicja Trout and Jay Reatard (of The Lost Sounds, Reatards, Fitts, Clears, and Destruction Unit Fame) who given it their own personal twist. I do think the guilt will kill.
RAZORCAKE - CONCUBINE FORMING "THE GUILT WILL KILL" CD
From the packaging, I was expecting some patently lame straight edge metal or something, but what’s coming out of the speakers is some dual guitar/bass/drum machine skronk, which, compared to the former is by all means a good thing. Their brand of noise was a tad redundant, but “March of The Robots,” ironically the longest track on the disc was pretty danged good, and the unlisted cover of Billy Squier’s “The Stroke” was good for a laugh.
