By: Sean Carsley August 20th, 2013
Down on a cement floor with crossed legs and a weapon of choice. Wood panel walls or cheap, cracking brick makes the small room seem smaller. That cold sensation which seeps up your spine from that floor stained in water and black circles of god-knows-what. Sweatshop, a mix-tape by Toronto duo Pale Eyes (Ben McCarthy and Lisa J. Smith) is the kind of album to listen to in a room like that.
Beginning with “Waves & Radiation”, it’s the perfect segue. A taste of what is to be the entire album. Raw. Chaotic. Layered pieces of beauty.
Then you slide into “kltr kma”, a Reznor-esque piece of ska, but rich. “Empathy Exhaustion” borders on Alternative but stays in that vein of Industrial with its raw sound and effects.
Sweatshop is brilliant and full of hooks, “Philosophka” should be radio-bound, except for the censor nightmare of the repeated “Don’t fuck me over” line. Which is a shame because I would defy anyone not to dig on this tune.
Listen to Sweatshop, preferably on a cement floor. You must catch its chaos and beauty.
Pale Eyes – Sweatshop
{http://soundcloud.com/pale-eyes/sets/sweatshop}