Native
Orthodox
Sargent House
Street: 08.20

Native = Minus the Bear + These Arms Are Snakes + The Honor System
Once upon a time, underground, post-hardcore and indie music had balls. Somewhere along the way, Starbucks, NPR listeners and energy drinks got involved, and everything went to hell. Native aren’t having any of that. Like an amped up Minus the Bear channeling Fugazi and At the Drive-In , Native are putting the rock and hardcore back in math rock and post-hardcore. Orthodox’s lean, 29-minute running time is all syncopation, noodling guitars and emotion. No whiny bullshit. No AP Magazine posing. Orthodox was recorded at an analog studio, lending it a warm and evenly separated tone to the record, which is all the more reason to get into it. If there is one criticism of Orthodox, it’s that their mission to “raise a collective eyebrow” against today’s empty rhetoric is hard to decipher among their obtuse lyrics. But that’s just a hardcore fan wanting something easy to hang his hat on. –Peter Fryer