Cassette Review // Rid Of Me "Summer" (Knife Hits)

$5 //
Edition of 100 //
https://ridofme.bandcamp.com/album/summer //

When this cassette starts, it has a softer way about it.   It reminds me of Rachel Jacobs and I even think about Period Bomb for a moment.   Then it kicks in quite heavy, quite loud, and I think of artists such as Hole and L7.   This is somewhat like Hum in that way too that when it kicks in it just kicks in so hard, in just this wall of sound.   I'm also hearing some Local H in here and perhaps some Slothrust as well.

In ways, this sounds like grunge and I love that about it.   It gets quiet as it comes to this almost complete stop and then just comes back loud as ever.   I have to admit I love that about it, because seeing this live or in any sense where a person might be hearing this and not paying attention, it could just sort of scare them and I do enjoy when music can catch you off guard like that.

The second song comes in with that dominant bass line and reminds me of later Hole while it just seems to also take a modern sound all its own.   I must mention names like Throwaway and Blackwater Holylight, but this just rocks on its own level and you have to listen to it, turn it up as loud as you can and just blow your speakers if you must.

On the flip side, we start off with these verses which remind me of Nirvana but then they just kick in screamy.   This is so much fun because it's so much energy but just rage.   And it might not be that type of protest rage like "fuck the government" or "I hate you because of this thing you did", but I feel like we all have some sort of rage inside of us at all times and if listening to this helps us to release that rage then that can be completely healthy.  (Though in all fairness, some of the lyrics are "I can't eat/I can't sleep", which would make me angry)

The fourth and final song feels a bit more upbeat but it's still full of huge distortion.  I feel like it's so rare to find a band that rocks this heavy but also has melody within the songs, whether it be 2020 or 1992.    I wish that there were more artists that sound like Rid Of Me.    I wish there were enough artists up until now that I could spend paragraphs just naming names of potential influences.   But, I only see an artist like this every so often and maybe in twenty or thirty years, if this keeps up, we can have that pool of artists, so right now just appreciate Rid Of Me for what they're doing because not a lot of other artists are doing it too.