Skuff - "Demo 2012" Review

I'm seriously running out of new ways to say good things about Canada. Home of socialized health care, maple syrup, hockey, and more excellent grind and powerviolence bands than you can shake a stick at. A drum/bass powerviolence band from Canada, well that just seems like a flawless combination, does it not? That's where Skuff come in. This B.C. duo has been kicking around for a couple years, and released this 2012 demo tape earlier this summer. Nine tracks of catchy, groovy, lo-fi, gruff and rough violence. It's the type of stuff that I'm just instantly attracted too, and rarely find any faults with, and Skuff are no different. Sure, it's not original, not even a little bit, but who gives a shit? If it's not broken, don't fix it (or try to break it). The recording on the demo is totally lo-fi and blown out. The low-end from the bass just seeps over everything, but it never reaches the point of just being a distorted, unlistenable mess. The riffs are still present, and if the sound was cleaned up a bit, the dudes gnarly bass tone would shine through a bit more. I do wish the snare drum was a bit more present though, it doesn't cut through as much as I like in my powerviolence. Overall, it's a solid demo, and I'm looking forward to everything this band puts out in the future. They have a split tape with Bridgeburner coming out soon, which is also streaming on the bandcamp, and it's awesome stuff.

Rating: 7/10

~VII

Bandcamp Albums Of The Week: Obacha & Skuff - Demos 2012

Double post!  Seeing as Skuff and Obacha both have recently released 2012 demos, and are touring the west coast together next month, it was all too fitting.

Obacha are a band that knows how to do fastcore right. These guys have been consistently killing it for a few years now, but their 2012 demo is their first release as a 3 piece (drummer quit, singer became drummer/singer) and it is a very apparent step up. With the sound being a lot dirtier than their previous output, these 8 songs in 4 minutes are as fast and frantic as any PV fiend could want. The vocal duties are also shared a little more, which rules and totally works for these guys. As you can tell I have a huge boner for their new demo, but all their stuff is worth checking out(  here's their first demo, the only thing not on the bandcamp).
*Edit: I was totally off, Obacha were still a four peice for this demo. They're even faster now. Here's proof.

Skuff on the other hand are a drum and bass two piece, playing super, super catchy and greasy PV.  Seriously, listen to “Wasp Eyes” and try not getting that shit stuck in your head.  Sweet samples, no songs longer then 1:10, and the least shitty Skuff production yet, what more could you ask for?  This new demo is showing up everything they’ve done previously so hard, while still being the perfect amount of raw.  These guys are going to be on that all drum and bass six way split with the almighty Water Torture so keep your eyes open for that as well. 

Check out the tour dates here , and listen to these bands at full volume!

~Isaac