The Factory Incident; John Schroeder of 80’s hardcore band Government Issue, Karl Hill, Aimee Soubier, Shaun Wright and Stephen Brown is a D.C based outfit. It’s been three long years since the band’s debut EP, Helmshore was released. Their latest endeavor, Redtape, recorded by Don Zientara and mixed by J. Robbins, is extremely short with only six tracks and these six songs were recorded over the aforementioned three long years. Why the long wait, you might wonder. Why not: this is a recorded collection of the very most raw, most extreme states of mind – it packs a punch.
The Factory Incident’s highly personal, odd musical landscapes are really something - the vocals implode and the instruments explode as in “4 AM”, “This Is Not A Swansong” and “Rail”. “Rail” is elaborate with melodic instrumentals that all but nearly drown out John “Stabb” Schroeder’s abused and abusive singsong: “Today offers me nothing.” The lyrical stories (double entendres are a favorite here) vary from broad sweeping statements to the sacred: “Your lonely soul keeps piling up the debt”, sings Schroeder in the Faustian song, “Said And Won”.
The Factory Incident is not easily certified; outsider rock, messed up rock, rough-around-the-edges rock, but I digress. “We have some conflict” is chanted repetitively in the introduction to “Argument” and Schroeder sings of those all-to-familiar awkward silences, but hey: “It’s better than being alone.” “In The Vile” shines, uniquely standing apart from the other songs on this acquired taste record. With talk of making progress, hoping for rest, prescriptions, trying to be an adult and moving slow - little is left to the imagination. The instrumentals of “In The Vile” are, comparatively speaking, sadder, more thoughtful, tender with bruises and Schroeder’s singing, if you can call it that, exhibits far more emotional range than in the other songs- from exhausted dejection to frustrated screaming: “Oh my God why can’t I rest!”
Fans of Sunny Day Real Estate, Iggy Pop and even, I would imagine, Deftones will love The Factory Incident’s Hyper-real, emotive music and Schroeder’s barren wasteland of a lost soul. |