song of the day: may 5/2011

Glassjaw - Ry Ry's Song
Album: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence [2000]

the always stunning progressive hardcore band glassjaw was formed by singer daryl palumbo and guitarist justin beck in 1994, longtime friends who began collaborating as teens. roster changes regularly plagued the influential group during its formative years, 2000-2003, which saw the release of "everything you ever wanted to know about silence", and 2002's "worship & tribute". rooted in new york hardcore aesthetic, but not in traditional hardcore per se, glassjaw fell under a new breed of bands that paid homage to the traditional chant and response of classic new york hardcore but without the chants, and without the shout-outs :)...if you think that makes little sense, so does glassjaw's non-linear music. and even though the band doesn't look like an aggressive rock band, they very much are. at least on paper. they paired up with producer/entrepreneur ross robinson (a key catalyst in the reinvention of rock sound during that time) to take you on a pummeling ride that would make any rocker proud. along with robinson's unorthodox production, glassjaw places an inordinate emphasis on palumbo's somewhat atonal voice, putting it at the forefront of the album's mix. his intense delivery wraps around the music, giving it an edge that one wouldn't otherwise expect. intensely dense, "everything you ever wanted to know about silence" succeeds on many levels. with palumbo's ability to completely and unequivocally assault the senses with his voice, the subversive riffs of beck and todd weinstock take songs like "pretty lush", "siberian kiss" and "when one eight becomes two zeros" to impressive places. other highlights include the catchy, more accessible "ry ry's song", the sombre "her middle name was boom" which highlights palumbo's ridiculous voice box before delving into a furious conclusion, and "piano", which builds up and destroys like a tornado. with few choruses to speak of, the band literally pile-drives the menacing material into the ground. much like deftones, glassjaw changes gears when you least expect it and have maintained a steady cult following even though they haven't released a proper album in almost ten years.

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