new music: wrists’ noise rap debut ‘the censorship trap’ finds the fine line between party and nihilism #soundcheck

The thin line between industrial, hip-hop, and punk rock grows wider every day. The latest band to join the fray of this bold uncharted territory is Wrists. A collaboration between NYC vocalist Turtle Handz and UK beat grinder Shep, the band made their noisy brutal debut this year with the ‘Mountain of Skulls’ single. Now the apocalyptic duo returns with their full length debut ‘The Censorship Trap’.

By Nathan Leigh, AFROPUNK Contributor

‘Figure’ opens with a distorted beat and industrial noise before Turtle Handz jumps in with shouted raspy rhymes. A single verse and Shep grinds Turtle Handz’s vocals into the noisy mess. All things are tools for their distortion. All sounds must be mutated. In ‘Catcher In The Ricin’, the band throws criticism of post-industrial America into their sonic meatgrinder. “This shit ’bout to get ugly / Debt on top of debt.”

‘Double Dutch Milky Way’ name checks Punch-Out!! character Glass Joe, adding 8-bit bleeps into the mess. A breakdown to Mario boss fight music pokes holes into the hyper aggressive noise. Despite a “fuck everyone” attitude, this shit is fun in the way that great punk finds the fun in nihilism. Though the record closes out on a serious note in ‘Pigs Still Porkin’ (Another Negro Summer)’. Summarizing the conflict in Ferguson, the opening line hits a sad truth. “‘He was going for my gun’ is the dog ate my homework of police shootings.”

* https://www.facebook.com/wristsmusic