Glassjaw – Material Control

Post-Hardcore’s 2017 Resurgence

This has been an impressive year for post-hardcore. Releases like Quicksand’s Interiors and supergroup Less Art’s Strangled Light broke the genre’s stereotypes that had been given it a bad reputation for years. Both of these artists matured their sound with grungy noise-esque guitars that made the genre easier to be taken seriously compared to the, at times, cringe-worthy vocal performance of years past. Now, only a few weeks until the end of the year, Glassjaw may have topped the 2017 post-hardcore release spectrum with their first record in 15 years.

Material Control is the first album by the Long Island band since 2002’s Worship and Tribute. The time has aged Glassjaw well, specifically the vocals of Daryl Palumbo. His vocals have evolved from a pop-punk, at times whiny scream into a more aged howl that has more in common with the hardcore style of Touché Amoré’s Jeremy Bolm than it does Tom DeLonge.

A track like “citizen” takes the smooth vocals of Palumbo and adds a more distorted, beatdown style guitar feature that makes the album feel noiser and darker. The subtleness in Palumbo’s voice makes it more creepy than it does scary, just because of his soft-spoken qualities.

“golgotha” has a repetitive but captivating guitar riff, as the high harmonic sound repeats itself to make a screeching that is almost like nails on a chalkboard, without the uncomfortable feeling that creeps in our skin. The drums by Chad Hasty are fast paced and run around the complimenting string instruments in a way that feels like Guns And Roses, “Welcome to the Jungle.” A feeling that is later called upon again with the instrumental track “bastille day,” in which the drums almost sound Asian in there grouplike, fast-paced qualities.

“bibleland 6” and “shira” have Code Orange style riffs as the echoes from the guitarist Justin Beck are grunge and noisy just the right amount where it doesn’t drown out the complementary bass from Travis Sykes and vocals of Palumbo. Speaking of the bass, Sykes does a great job on the track “my conscience weighs a ton.” His deep tones run next to Palumbo’s vocals during the first verse without the lead guitar helping out. It solidifies the dark qualities of Material Control while making the emergence of a guitar that much more welcome.

“material control” almost has math-rock style guitar riffs as the heavily distorted tapping of Beck are so muddy in sonical aesthetic, that it makes the instrumental track a unique break from the regular programming that Material Control provides.

Some of the tracks on Material Control begin to blend in by the time we reach “cut and run,” but that doesn’t take away from the strong performance that Glassjaw have provided here with their first album in 15 years. For any fans of the Long Island crew, this return will surely be welcomed with open arms, even with the change in sound — because as the band ages, so will the fans.

 

Christopher Fastiggi: Christopher Fastiggi is a communications major at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA. He grew up at the historic Jersey Shore area where artists such as Bruce Springsteen got their start. It was very easy for Chris to fall in love with the music scene because of this. Now studying in Philadelphia, Chris uses the musical culture around him as the influence for his radio show, Chris Squared Radio, where Chris and another Chris talk about upcoming shows in the Philadelphia area and their favorite new music from across the indie rock spectrum. When he is not delving into some new twinkly emo rock band, Chris can be found playing Super Smash Bros, strumming his guitar and yelling at Eli Manning on his television. For now, Chris loves to write punk reviews for mxdwn.com but hopes, when he graduates, he can get involved in music marketing and maybe even fulfill his dream of being on Survivor.
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