The Locust are one of your new breed of bands coming out of the punk/ hardcore underground but sounding like neither punk nor hardcore. The band started life as a part of the Southern California hardcore scene in 1995. They would, with their violent and often bizarre music, quickly divide the hardcore underground into people who loved them and people who loathed them. The songs were mostly 60 second blasts of hyper active noise and played with supreme technical proficiency. The band dress up like locusts complete with insect like body suits in their live shows and till date nobody seems to know if they should be taken seriously or not. New Erections is their most recent album and was released earlier this year.

Coming to the music on “New Erections,” the one thing that is apparent straight away is that the band are playing longer songs with one song clocking in at over 4 minutes. Definitely epic length for The Locust. The music for the most part is ultra technical heavy discordance. The band would probably fit into the whole post rock/ post metal genre without actually sounding like any other band. Imagine Dillinger Escape Plan jamming with Fantomas or for an even more obscure reference point, imagine a tighter more structured sounding Lightening Bolt. The band use electro beats, math rock precision and some bizarre vocal lines to create a deeply unpleasant and very extreme record. The songs on New Erections are not songs at all if you think of the traditional song format. They are heavy, discordant and often chaotic soundscapes.

The problem I have with most of the bands of this ilk is that they have a great novelty value. Yet at the end of the day, once the initial awe wears out, you’re left with a bunch of music that is probably technically brilliant but there isn’t a single song that sticks in my mind. Just 2 to 4 minute wank fests that don’t do anything for me.

The Locust, although coming from the hardcore scene sound nothing like your traditional hardcore band and yet simply seeing as how the Locust are breaking down barriers and creating music that is completely unique and new they are probably closer to the ethos of punk than anything else. Still, this is not music for everybody but if you like bands like Lightening Bolt and appreciate the out of the world weirdness of bands like Genghis Tron then maybe you can appreciate The Locust.

Year Of Release – 2007

Label – Anti