NY Loose – Monolith Kids
NY Loose – Monolith Kids
NFA Promotions
Release date: 16/09/26
Review by: Jon Deaux
8.5/10
NY Loose was flushed away by a bunch of folks who were clueless as to what good music was.
NY Loose should have become huge stars. The 90s era in New York: the band featuring Brijitte West, who had a dangerous presence and voice; the music that captured listeners’ attention and an unsuspecting Hollywood Records, which signed them despite being clueless about a grunge rock ‘n’ roll band. The first album released under this banner is called Year of the Rat, which came out in 1996 and was followed by tour support roles for L7 and Marilyn Manson’s Antichrist Superstar tour. ‘Spit’ even appeared on the soundtrack of the movie Crow: City of Angels. Soon the label withdrew its support midway through the tour, and NY Loose disbanded; only one album with a couple of EPs is their legacy. ‘Monolith Kids’ released through Brijitte West and NFA Promotions captures this indie era music with twelve remastered, re-sequenced tracks from the entire album Loosen Up and songs featured on the Born to Loose compilation.
The opening onslaught of the title track is marked by a rhythm section that has a sound like it was fired from a cannon, with heavy power chords, and West shouting out the chorus and bringing both a snarl and sweetness in equal amounts. ‘Bitch’ is a track that features some very good low-slung guitar riffs and the punk rock spirit of Ramones, but with more danger as well – here it feels more like an evil Josie & The Pussycats with Joan Jett at their front, featuring lyrics that dare anyone to use the name she called herself in this track. ‘Green Light Semaphore’ continues the trend of tracks inspired by Heartbreakers, and it would have fit in on John Peel’s show in 1994 just as nicely as it fits now between Idles and Lambrini Girls.
These recordings were cheap, made before the major label money, and it shows. They are rough and untidy, and still manage to bring the message across. The remaster has done a great job of smoothing things out, but not in a way that took away their character, which was the key element anyway.
The collaborations deliver what’s required. ‘James,’ co-authored by Gary Sunshine of Circus of Power, is a burst of pop-punk exuberance with power chords aplenty. ‘The Late 20th Century Blues’, co-written by Richie Bacchus of D Generation, erupts from an immense bassline and metamorphoses into raw-as-gutters New York punk rock. It’s a little harder for the production to handle (it’s like the bass line falls silent when the riff begins), but the sloppiness suits it, and the chorus is memorable.
‘Spit’ appears in its original form, lasting over five minutes of moody crawl drenched in tremolo and psychedelia, more than on the final version of the album. The reason why they made it heavier on “Year Of The Rat” becomes clear when you hear how good the song is in its original form, with West’s vocals, full of carefree cool and snarling, well-defined. ‘The Luckiest Girl’ and ‘The Desperate Hopeful’ demonstrate another, hidden side: jangly, B-52s/Belly pop-rock and some vulnerability in West. Fade shows some Britpop influence in the Blur and Elastica waters, while ‘This Train Terminates Here’ shows the group had Soul Asylum’s love for a good tune, which makes the song a hit candidate if you give it a chance. ‘Loosen Up’ has its own charm of being recorded in the studio setting, featuring breakdowns where the bass dominates and increasingly erratic vocals as the song progresses. Their cover of The Avengers’ ‘Cheap Tragedies’ finishes things in a way where their guitars could break at any minute, and hope keeps them going.
But this album does have its flaws. Sometimes the EP-era writing shows signs of immaturity, and some of the pop tracks on this album are yet to find their footing. However, the attitude makes up for a lot of things, and the fact that it is flawed is partly what makes it so real. This record will always be remembered because of the band that struggled to survive by doing all sorts of jobs just to earn money so that they could afford to enter a recording studio, only to have their stories whitewashed by the label once their music was ready for sale.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Monolith Kids
02. Bitch
03. Green Light Semaphore
04. The Luckiest Girl
05. James
06. Spit
07. Fade
08. The Desperate Hopeful
09. The Late 20th Century Blues
10. Loosen Up
11. This Train Terminates Here
12. Cheap Tragedies
LINKS:
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