Review: Institute – Catharsis

Institute
Catharsis

Sacred Bones
Street: 06.09
Institute = The Dead Boys + Gang of Four

A thin-toned, catchy guitar riff begins “Perpetual Ebb,” the first track on Catharsis, and it seems to set the BPM for the whole record. Like most good albums swaying toward the punk genre, the speed enables perpetual pogoing. The vocals, mixed low as if coming through a small amp in the corner of a small practice space, tend to be less melodic than the distorted bass guitar, but the strings carry enough melody for me. The way lead vocalist Moses Brown almost chants the lyrics works well in contrast with his moments of screaming, which sounds like Darby Crash in some instances and Joe Strummer in others. Besides the untitled noisy mess of the track splitting the album in half, I couldn’t find a displeasing moment in Catharsis. –Steve Richardson