Cassette Review // Nervous Tick and The Zipper Lips "More Monochromatic" (Tetryon Tapes)

 https://tetryontapes.bandcamp.com/album/more-monochromatic

This cassette begins with someone saying: "Now let me give you a personal word of advice" and then we go into clangy, fast paced rock n roll fueled by punk.  This has all the sounds of old Epitaph bands, like <Jukebox Lean>, but maintains some sense control as it stops and starts along with the chorus.   Notes come through now, as they climb and descend, and this just turns into something a little more complex than punk.

The second song, "Manipulation", comes in with these great guitar breakdowns, then these shiny tones as well.   This is fast and angry, somewhere between a band like Reach The Sky and U.S. Bombs.   The chorus has a nice little groove and then there is also a guitar solo.  This also just feels heavier on the music than the vocals.

Fast paced chords come in and then stop to open up the third song on this cassette, which just also happens to be the longest of them.  I like that a lot of what this singer is singing about seems to be struggles and the way the vocals come out sound like he's suffering by singing in such a manner.  They just fit together so well- the lyrics and voice.  More guitar techniques here, as this feels like more refinded punk rock but also still punk at its core.  

"Just Fine" is the last song and it has a more new wave type of CBGB's sound to it than the songs that came before it.  The first three songs definitely felt more raw, even if they were played by punks showing off that they could play their instruments, but it feels like this cover is a good way to sort of establish that being punk doesn't have to mean not knowing how to play your instruments.  This one hits hard and this one hits fast, but most importantly, it hits.