To plug into Chat Pile’s new album is to latch onto a wormhole that reaches back to the mid 1980s to sample a scene that was post-post-punk and pre-grunge. Guitar-driven noise rock characterised by gruff vocals and a general unhappiness with the world, with scene big beasts like Big Black, Sonic Youth and Swans, every live show would result in singing eardrums for a couple of days and potentially a brace of bruises for those who ventured into the mosh pit. It may have been fun, but it was hardly joyful.
Chat Pile look like they might be a bit young to have been veterans of that scene, but they clearly wish that they had been there. The songs on Who Loves the Sun are harsh and raucous with gloomy lyrics that are growled or howled and are best heard at full volume for the full cathartic effect. Make no mistake, this is music for venting that has been fully marinated in testosterone – even if there is an occasional danger of things tipping into self-pity.
Opening track, “Creature” sets the scene from the first howl, with lyrics of “Every creature led to slaughter / Every city underwater” set to a discordant and brutal backing and doesn’t let up until the final fade out of the last chord. “Shrine” is a total tempest of primal noise, while “Christabel ‘26” is intense, claustrophobic and very heavy indeed. However, the miserabilism of “Family Funeral” with its lyrics of “I never wanted to be in love / Awful thing. Dreadful thing” does suggest that the band might want to lighten up a bit.
Nevertheless, on set closer “October All the Time”, Ray B does sing “Everything will be fine / The sun will continue to shine”. So, maybe Who Loves the Sun is just a case of Chat Pile clearing the emotional decks and getting it all out of their system.
