Filth Lords
Keep On Snarlin’
Self-Released
Street Date: 12.20.12
Filth Lords = Kid Dynamite + Police-era Fucked Up + Guilt Lust

Keep On Snarlin’ is kinda ruddy. It buries the frothy bawl of singer/axeman Alex Ortega ‘neath a thick lacquer of Nick Harris’ throbbing basslines, Swiz drums from Rio Connelly and frenetic gee-tar noodling, and it’s this grit that justifies the local power trio’s “filthy” moniker. Still, it’s when the furor thins and the bawdy melodies slip through (the bar-room chant-along of “Retirement Plan,” the closer of “Blackout”) that Snarlin’ rears its head as a fine hunk of spectrum-shifting melodic metalli-punk, earnest in approach and relentless in execution. From the incessant gallop of the title track, to the veritable “1-2-3!” of the final trio of cuts (the high point being the closer, “Vapid,” which rakes itself over a few plaintive chords before belching forth into a full-blown gravel-gargling hoopla), Keep On Snarlin’ is a memorable affair. It is hook-riddled, frantic and deeply rooted in the same angular angst that slung Jawbox, Black Cross and Paint It Black into the modern punk mix. Highly recommended for all genre-fringers. –Dylan Chadwick