Lifeswallower? That’s what she said. Anyhow, it is still somewhat endearing that after the rise and fall of the monoculture one can still find distinct regional sounds within the underground punk and hardcore community as shown by Adam Rains’ (formerly of Kodan Armada & In Tongues) Prideswallower's distinct nods to the Louisville hardcore style with their debut EP.

Like their Louisville brethren in bands like Black Cross and Breather Resist, Prideswallower’s brand of noise rock is heavily in debt to the foundations laid by AmRep in heavy music, as well as what eventually became known as “grunge” in the mainstream. Still, at their core, songs like “Timeswallower” and “Lifeswallower” are sweaty garage rock songs that happen to have layers of distortion and feedback poured on them. Don’t get me wrong, though: The noise is a big part of Prideswallower’s sound, but in this way it acts more like a logical extension of the raw power that was brought by the garage bands of the `60s.

The majority of the recording itself was done on eight-track recorder with the vocals being recorded on a laptop, which is a pretty unconventional approach to recording a label-backed record in today’s recording industry. The recorder and mixer must be applauded because an eight-track recording can sound like a muddy mess, especially when the band’s sound is intentionally obscured, but this album sounds powerful and clear even if it is noise. My only slight complaint is that the vocals could be slightly more present because the lyrics are really well-constructed and there is some catchy melodies buried in there that are begging to get more attention. But in the end, I suppose, it does keep the listener more involved.

Prideswallower shows that although they mine a rich history in their recording, both recent and not so recent, they still maintain their own identity as a band. Given their MySpace headline, which is “Deadswallower. Bummer.”, I have a funny feeling the band may have broken up already, which is a real shame because if this record is any indication there were great things to come.