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The Post Office Gals

Esbeohdes (2006)
On the Rise

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Brian
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on February 21st 2006

The Post Office Gals play a newer style of grindcore you're apt to hear in newer wave frontrunners like the Locust and Daughters. This means short and screamy, minute-long bursts of body spasms that owe more to punk than the type of death metal nearly interchangeable with the style. So while you won't find ultra low, from-the-pits-of-hell bellowing and metaphors for society's decay, you will hear those same hyperactively scaling guitars and see plenty of cheeky, pop culture-referencing long song titles ("Right Click My Heart Save as 'Broken,'" "So Many Issues of Teen People, So Little Time to Masturbate").

On second thought, the POGs are hardly restricted within grind's boundaries. There's a distinctly liberal use of keyboards; sure, the aforementioned Locust are supporters of the instrument, but POGs' technique makes sure they're loud and prominent in the mix, and generally wacky throughout, not to mention absolutely relentless. It also acts as the band's crutch, as they're usually bouncing along paces unusually slow for the genre, especially in the drums, but that's okay, as it gives the band some originality.

POGs' lyrics are hilariously lazy, as well. It's not that this is actually an issue, as with this genre the indecipherable, scratchy roar of the vocalist usually renders them useless, but it's still funny to observe. One song narrates "the only thing that's lame is your fucking goblin cock dangling like bastard Tootsie roll / Haley never saw it coming / dude that was god damn priceless." Another? "GO TEAM!" repeated twice, more or less. There's some honest, simple and pissed off if not intellectually lacking diatribes scattered about though; "You know, these god damn God-loving people have too much faith in 'the guy upstairs' / Think on your own! / The preaching priest is only there to collect your money! / But hey, if you wanna join the false belief club, go ahead, it ain't my life."

Esbeohdes is an utterly tongue-in-cheek, 13-minute display of messing with the rules of an already lawless style, and what it results in is a deliciously messy, chaotic carnival.

STREAM
Esbehodes

MP3s
Right Click My Heart Save as "Broken"
The Bitter Irony of the Miss Teen New Jersey Pagent [sic]
Good I'm Glad

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Anonymous (March 7, 2006)

just buy the cd and fight about it later

givemeamuseumandillfillit (February 24, 2006)

I've never said that the locust were an original band. Who the hell cares about originality anyways? If it's good, it's good, no matter if it's been done before or not.

Will, i like man is the bastard as much as you, but to say they _created_ powerviolence has to be a joke.

Anonymous (February 23, 2006)

Well, exactly. It's become a terrible trend.

On the otherhand, people who say shit like "I HATE THESE BANDS THAT USE WEIRD INSTRUMENTS! THIS IS NOT REAL HARDCORE" obviously don't know what they're talking about. The Locust are hardly original.

A little band called Man Is the Bastard created power violence way back, and they had two bassists and were just as experimental as they were fast and thrashing/slow and crushing.

-Will

givemeamuseumandillfillit (February 23, 2006)

And to clarify, my dissapointment in everyone ragging on this kind of stuff is because just a year ago there were very few negative comments about bands like this.

givemeamuseumandillfillit (February 23, 2006)

What's with most users on here ragging on everything that sounds like this?

This band is pretty fucking great, If you have a problem with their music, you're the one taking it too seriously, because i'm surely not. This has nothing to do with being "artsy" what so ever, it's just balls out, catchy, spazzy music. I consider this to be pop music.

If you don't like it, fine, but don't assume that everybody who does is a hipster who takes everything too seriously, because you're the ones who're guilty of that.

xote (February 23, 2006)

there are people that listen to this some people like that shit

fox82 (February 22, 2006)

They don't; they just say they do in front of their hipster/fringeXcore friends to look more underground and more of a prick.

the_other_scott (February 22, 2006)

how the fuck do people enjoy this shit?

Anonymous (February 22, 2006)

No, I'm definitely not religeous, but I do recognize the potential good churches can do. And yeah, they can do a shitload of bad, too... But there's more to the issue than what the band addressed. Those lyrics are cliche and stupid. It's like if I was talking to a 14 year old Slipknot kid about religion.

-Will

SilentStorms (February 22, 2006)

Will, please don't tell me you're religious. I've posted enough on this review.

Old Dave Man Norman Gloom

xote (February 22, 2006)

those lyrics were pretty bad at least locust, daughters, an albatross, other bands of the sort have lyrics that are at least intresting to read

xote (February 22, 2006)

I normally really like bands like these guys... but they seem just alright maybe it'll grow on me

Anonymous (February 22, 2006)

"Wacky" grind can eat a bag of dicks. This artsy emo/grind shit is the new 3rd wave ska.

Anonymous (February 22, 2006)

I think it was Wells Tipley who came up with the famous punk equation: Your punkness is a positive relationship with the amount of time you spend at the post office.

-Ken