NO BALLS "COME CLEAN" (Permanent Records)

That rabbit looks pretty innocent but he will fucking rip your goddamn throat out, shit in the hole and pound you one in the eyes with his hind feet for good measure before he scampers off to fool someone else. Such is the trick of No Balls, a somewhat pointless but ultra-devastating Brainbombs side project. It's pointless in the fact that it sounds pretty much exactly like the Brainbombs except it's a little heavier with less saxophone and fewer vocals. Pretty much what you've got, then, is an instrumental slab of crushing blown out in the red pulverizing repetitive monotony.

Debating the merits of this band's existence aside, "Come Clean" is a monster of an album, an epic thunderclap of guitar primitivism and brutal, raged-filled misanthropy turned outward and made into music. This is total hate. Brainbombs are at least a little bit funny; they'd have to be to get away with the ridiculous lyrical shit they do. No Balls aren't funny at all. They're just out to destroy. Maybe writing lyrics was too much of an investment, a time-sucker that was getting in the way of the room clearing that No Balls must certainly be capable of. Seriously, listening to this through the headphones is like a sledgehammer bashing against your temple over and over until your head becomes a bloody mess of pulp and viscera. It doesn't let up, ever. I can't imagine what this would be like live-i just know i need to be there if they come anywhere near me. Every song is one riff driven into the ground, with more and more scuzz and noise piled on top until each track reaches its saturation point and collapses in on itself. There's no derivation nor variety, just one skull-cracking riff after another and a shitload of anger turned into sheets of gorgeous, shrieking noise.

If you dig the Brainbombs then you need this. If you're into Circle's heavier moments or Whitehouse's instrumental tracks then this is going to be your new heavenspace. I like all those things so No Balls is a winner for me. I could extrapolate on things further but there's just no need. It is what it is and nothing more-pure fucking audio hate. Grid your mind into mush and embrace the filth.