Making tons of noise up north (and not just with the trombone) is Montreal's FAZE. Playing a version of punk that is equally married with psych rock, these songs drone, but there is no falter in the step them. Like a dune buggy slowly losing control, the pace is relentless. Culling elements of punk honed by fellow canadians, S.H.I.T. and more astronomical influences like Destruction Unit. Basically you have to be on drugs to fully understand this. 


Our take: We carried Faze’s demo cassette several years ago, and now they’re back with their debut vinyl on 11PM Records. I called the Montreal band’s sound “strikingly original” back then, and it’s still the case now. 11PM’s description says it all when they mention S.H.I.T. combined with Destruction Unit’s space-rock-meets-noise-rock… that hits the nail on the head. Faze has S.H.I.T.’s ability to create tense rhythms that sound like a coiled spring, but what makes them unique is their ability to pull out of that groove and slide into something different, like the repetitive, krautrock-y rhythms that open the record. Content is a hardcore record through and through, all about energy and power, but I would love to see Faze do something (maybe a full-length) where they give the psychedelic elements of their sound a bigger piece of the stage. Until then, Content earns its keep as a unique and exciting hardcore record.