Thing of the Day
Nikki Louder
June
29th 2011
An opening of an exhibition of GLENN IBBITSON’s powerful paintings at Studio 75, and NIKKI LOUDER’s intelligent new album of art-fuelled guitar noise…
NIKKI LOUDER – Our World Died Yesterday (Moonlee)
– Now these boys make a serious noise, an awkwardly good noise, an
abrasive noise; they’re a band who’s album needs to be played very
loud. They’re from Slovenia, they’re a “chaotic noise trio”. Our World is their second album, the follow up to the well received Alain, I’m Sorry.
This second album is nine more slices of uncompromised noise and aggression, clever aggression, considered moves – noise that comes laced with mathy post-punk undertones and the elegant head-battering abrasive art of perfected noise. A screaming onslaught of shouting over (or underneath or maybe through) guitar violence – yet they do understand the power of restraint, light and shade, rather than a mere wall of relentless flying at your senses. Well no, there are times when they do just relentlessly fly at your head and batter your senses with guitar noise and jagged feedback drenched semi-structured sonic violence, always keeping a clever edge though, the battering is always a pleasurably violent one.
Oversized Sunglasses
is seven and a half minutes of relentless instrumental noise, slicing
the album in half before they take up with the raw grungy vocals
again. They’ve got a bit of a Part Chimp feel, a Sonic Youth
flavour or two to add to their glorious art-fuelled noise-rock
math-core alternative wall of noise. This is the guitar as noise paint,
in the thoughtfully furious manner of Poino, Optimist Club and even
Colossomite or Oxbow. Nikki Louder are good, they’re Emerson
Fittipaldi good - well, if they are going to reference 70’s Grand Prix
racing drivers then so can we – Niki Lauda, three times world champion,
but never as cool as Emerson Fittipaldi in his black Lotus and giant
sideburns. Actually, At 
Tacked
has a menacing low end buzz, the buzz of a lonely race car relentlessly
lapping, more twenty-four Le Mans endurance in the darkness of the
early hours, lap after lap, than the rush of Formula One. At Tacked
is a building rumble, four and a half minutes long here, sounds like it
has potential to be hours longer in a live situation. On the
album the band follow it with the final almost melancholic Quiet Buzz, a brooding track that comes with an almost spoken slow-moving vocal.
Nikki Louder are good: they’re doing things you will have heard from a lot of other alternative noise-core art-rock bands over the last twenty or so years, they have details of their own, though, a desire to be a little different, to challenge themselves rather than just be yet another band, Quiet Buzz makes for a beautifully mellow ending, the calm after the onslaught of the storm. Nikki Louder are worth seeking out, this album is recommended.
Nikki Louder’s second album, Our World Died Yesterday, is out now on Moonlee Records
www.moonleerecords.com
www.nikkilouder.bandcamp.com
Meanwhile, if you're in East London this week, then these painting look rather powerfully strong...
GLENN IBBITSON's show ‘CONSIGNMENT', opens tomorrow, June 30th, at Studio 75, Hackney, London, E2.
The show runs until July 3rd, full details via this link - studio75.org.uk/current
