Livver’s “Fuck You Pay Me" doesn’t waste time. Sixteen
minutes. Ten songs. One big “Holy shit.”
These Boston
dudes crash together grind, hardcore and a bit of prog for songs that blow up
like epics before screeching to a halt in under two minutes. The longest song
is a cover of Hammerhead’s “Tuffskins,” a bit of shit-luck reality.
Not that fantasy provides much relief here. “Black Winds’
and “Her Ghost” have a dreary, Gothic feel that oozes gloom. Elsewhere, there
are songs about burning, drowning, and freezing; basically everybody dies a
horrible death on this record.
But singer Bruce Bettis, guitarist Robin Goodhue, drummer
Morgan Berns, and bass player Aarne Victorine sound like they are having a
blast bringing down this mayhem. Bettis latches onto a pretty steady howl while
his band mates shake up shit from militant hardcore marches to trippy sonic juxtapositions.
It’s all pure metal but laced with some mindbending ingredients.
"Fuck You Pay Me" is available online at http://livver.bandcamp.com/. Livver is
playing Wednesday, Jan. 23, with Hivesmasher and Lunglust at Dusk, 301 Harris Ave.,
Providence, R.I.
Show time is 9 p.m.
