Drug Church
Paul Walker
Release Date: Jul 23, 2013
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: No Sleep Records
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Album Review: Paul Walker by Drug Church
Great, Based on 5 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Batshit stuff from Albany's Drug Church. Almost a year on from Drug Church’s debut EP, and Albany’s most nihilistic sons are back in town with a belter of a debut album. Bizarrely named after the Varsity Blues actor, it sees the band sounding tighter and more confident than ever on the likes of ‘Reading Youtube Comments’ and probable live favourite-to-be ‘Donny’s Woods’.
Based on rating 4/5
"Drug Church is the sound garbage makes when thrown off a roof into the dumpster your dickhead boss rented for your underpaying contractor gig. Come back in a few weeks and steal the copper piping because there's no other benefit to the job and you're probably getting sick from asbestos, so to hell with it. " ".
Based on rating 6/10
In it’s innumerable complexities, off-shoots, and flat-out desecrations, post-hardcore is one of the few segments of ‘90s DIY culture in the midst of revival. And while most at the forefront of this resurrecting genre participate in timbre alone, Drug Church is a band composed of members who actually participate in, or are currently coming out of hardcore to write and perform this more tempered and melodic styling of hardcore-infused music – a unique position these days, to say the least. On their third release – and first full-length album since surfacing just a year ago – Drug Church present a raw, belligerent take on Quicksand-era alternative rock.
Opinion: Fairly Good
You know how cranky 40-something-year-old former punk rockers (now rocking the Dockers from their cubicles) take time out from updating their fantasy football leagues just long enough to rail about “real punk rock” versus today’s shitty pop bands masquerading as punk rock? Well they certainly aren’t talking about Drug Church. This Albany band plays a special blend of fuck –it-we’re- all-gonna-die-eventually mosh pit punk anthems that bring to mind everyone from Jawbreaker to Quicksand. Their first full length, Paul Walker is hardcore with a slight sense of humor – just a very dark one.
Opinion: Excellent
To anyone younger than 25, Drug Church’s music will sound like the most awesome, most aggressive post-hardcore they’ve ever heard. To anyone older than 25, it’ll sound the same way, only we’ll appreciate it more since we were there in the ’90s for Snapcase, Helmet, Quicksand, Seaweed, Handsome, Fireside and other similarly sounding (and similarly syllabic) bands. The riffs are crunchy, the rhythm section is appropriately lumbering, the vocals are hoarsely yelled, and the lyrics are as matter-of-fact as the song titles (“Attending A Cousin’s Birthday Party,” “Shopping For A Belt,” “Reading YouTube Comments”).
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