Debut EP from Mateo


Our take: We carried a cassette version of this debut recording from Factory City Children—the solo alter ego of Mateo, Warthog’s bassist—and now Toxic State brings us the vinyl version. As usual with Toxic State, the packaging is beautiful and elaborate, and the music still rips. Revisiting this on vinyl, I’m struck by how Factory City Children’s songs are so straightforward and classic-sounding at their core, with familiar chord progressions yanked straight from the Misfits and Ramones songbooks. However, while the songwriting gives these tracks a sturdy backbone, everything else about this is so wild and unhinged that it sounds nothing like those bands. The songs are bathed in noisy guitar leads and fuzzy synth textures, while Mateo’s vocals are full of snot and bile yet still have memorable melodic hooks and discernible lyrics. It’s that classic salty/sweet formula, and it works brilliantly here.