Received 09/11/2021 this split LP It’s In Your Ribs (FTR593) by Dunums and Casual Planes from the US label Feeding Tube Records. As it happens both bands are duos and comprise the same members, just playing different roles, about which more shortly.
Sijal Nasralla is a Palestinian living in America (in Durham NC, where both these bands operate), and his songs / music in Dunums do a lot to address the Arab-Israeli conflict, or at least express his powerful feelings about the situation. He would be the first to admit he’s still channelling a lot of adolescent angst, hostility, anger and emo-type emotions in his songs, and what ends up on the grooves of Side A are these soaring, anthemic songs played in a semi-melodic punk style with overloaded instruments set to maximum obnoxio-factor, keening and shouty vocals, with the content of the lyrics mostly blurring into a confused but exhilarating assault of ferocious outpourings. Matter of fact he does pretty much the same in his other group The Muslims, which “is all about exorcising and transcending oppression through joy and rage,” according to him. Only on ‘What is Aleppo’ is the formula tempered with some external recordings of voices/sounds captured perhaps from the TV, and while non-specific in nature these might add to the discourse of the Palestinian diaspora.
On these Dunums tracks, Sijal Nasralla plays and sings everything, while Alston Palmer drums…Nasralla is a mean guitarist, really mean – he’s proud of his ratty tone and the “piercing treble” he gets from his recycled instrument. Seems most of his other instruments are also sub-par, broken, or borrowed…none of which present obstacles to him as he freely expresses his feelings. He claims he’s developed his style from “improvisation”, but what he means by that is simply playing anything and everything and being open to all sorts of influences, advancing his work in a rough and ready try-anything manner. Even the failures are part of it; the important thing is to try. “Arty post-rock, noise, and fake-jazz” is how he cheerfully describes the rag-tag of musical styles that boil together in Dunums. I like this guy’s honesty and can-do attitude, even if I was shocked by the rather overwrought and hysterical songs on Side A. The abrasive music really does get “in your ribs”, like a very pro-active cancer invading your ribcage, heading straight for your heart.
Casual Planes occupy all of side B with their Fruiting Body. Where Sijal Nasralla is leader of Dunums, Casual Planes is Alston Palmer’s project, and on it he plays guitar with many effects, while Sijal drums. No messages here, political or otherwise, but still the same levels of manic flailing force, this time being used to create wild free-form energy music, a kind of spiky jazz-metal freed from any type of conventional structure or restrictions, just sprawling and flailing in a huge tub of protoplasmic goo. It might be that Alston Palmer has some sound technical chops, but I like him best here when he’s apparently so infuriated that his guitar noise can’t adequately express his seething rage, and there’s a powerful impression of blocked, thwarted emotions. As drummer, Sijal Nasralla is every bit as objectionable as he is as a singer and guitarist, which is not only a good thing, it’s a positively miraculous development in a modern music culture where 90% of players are so determined to appear “likeable” they seem intent on knocking off their own corners and sanding down all their rough edges. While our duo of ant-like monsters may tread water for a few moments on this Fruiting Body, the integrity of the entire 21 minute performance is what matters, and they emerge with the trophy in their mitts…while we barely escape with a lacerated torso, thanks to these reams of barbed wire. The label are quite proud of this one, even if it’s limited to 200 copies, and it came to them via a personal recommendation…first vinyl outing for either band. Good stuff.