Cassette Review // Nokti "Cockschmerzen" (Crass Lips Records)

 

$7 //

https://crasslipsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/cockschmerzen //

When music becomes experimental for such a long time it really begins to take away the meaning of the word.   Artists will try to be experimental but if you're just sounding like other artists trying to be experimental then what are you?  Luckily for us, Nokti is creating experimental rock music which is still actually experimenting and not just copying everyone else.  Recently I was reminded of the debut album by Liars and in many ways this cassette just reminds me of that, which I truly do love about it.

Through this collection of loud and sometimes short songs you will find singing and even when you perhaps least expect it that saxophone sound.   As it jams out heavy and distorted, this one can be punk and make me think of Refused at times.   I don't feel as if there are a lot of other easy influences to put within these songs but that's always a good thing.   There are always an increasing number of artists creating music and to avoid sounding like them seems to be one of the greatest tasks of making music.

Perhaps what perplexes me the most about music are the bands who just go out and say they're being experimental or think they are trying something different but all they're really doing is showing how little knowledge of music they have-- how few artists they have listened to before.  So much time could be saved if artists just listened to Frank Zappa before making music they think is mindblowing and new.   And this is why I respect Nokti that much more.  Whether intentional or not, they seem to have gone out of their way to avoid obvious influences.

On one hand, this cassette could have gone down the road of energetic punk with a different edge, but it didn't.  On the other hand, Nokti could have strived to create something different which ended up sounding like Liars or any other number of artists I won't name, but they didn't.    The way that Nokti has created these songs by choosing neither of those two roads but yet feeling like it could go down them in such an organic manner is what makes these songs so special.