Review + Stream – Dreamcrusher – Hackers All Of Them Hackers EP

Dreamcrusher is playing in Boston on November 6th as part of Boston Hassle Hassle Fest. 

I’ll be honest. I love a nice bit of noise. From Incapacitants to Prurient, Kylie Minoise to She Spread Sorrow, it’s all good in my book. I wasn’t previously aware of Luwayne Glass’s work, which is a huge failing on my part and one I’ll endeavour to rectify ASAP. This formidable five-track EP from this Wichita-born artist can safely snuggle up amongst these big hitters in my collection now. It’s that good.

As with Prurient’s Frozen Niagra Falls, it’s the sound of an artist pushing against the (community-imposed, narcissistic) limitations of the genre. There are beats! There is singing! There are keyboard lines you can follow! This is all good. Really good.

Tracks like Adore, Vacuum and All Covered in Red run some fantastic dub / bass-heavy elements in the beats that recalls Death Grips or Dalek. You can really move to this stuff. In previous interviews, Luwayne has mentioned how influential the Prodigy initially were (as well as Autechre) and this influence manifests itself in some head-bobbing, feet shuffling, slightly glitchy grooves.

In many ways this could be a Noise Primer For The Uninitiated. It takes all the elements, overloaded sounds, treated vocals, high-end distortion, low-end rumbling, feedback, discordant melodies and jackhammer industrial beats and blends them across the five tracks to intoxicating effect.

In interviews, Luwayne rails against that neo-Nazi tendency he’s experienced in the noise scene since 2008 and this release is an excellent repudiation of those miserablist, self-absorbed, politically suspect releases. “Adore” is such a heady rush of beats and sounds that it should be adopted as the national anthem of all those that consider themselves members of the Noise Nation.

The EP closes with Trapdoor (featuring Secret Boyfriend), mining that particularly melancholic strand of noise (Power Romance?) that the now defunct Navicon Torture Technologies explored. There’s an emotional undertow of regret to this track, railing against the usual themes of self-hatred / misogyny that infest the Church Of Noise. One hopes that this is an area he’ll explore on future releases.

This is the breath of fresh Noise air that I’ve been looking for. I’ve played it continuously for the last hour whilst writing this review. Exceptional.
Available to purchase here
http://firetalkrecs.com/shop/dreamcrusher-hackers-all-of-them-hackers