Let it be known that we LOVE the exquisite cinematic experience that is Joe Dante’s The ‘Burbs. Let it also be know that if you’re a new artist (Well, newish in this case, but we’ll get to that…) and you’re bursting onto the scene with The ‘Burbs as your backdrop/aesthetic/inspiration then we’re, at the very least, going to take a very concentrated listen. And listen we did to the debut demo/EP from TENSION SCALE featuring members of The Downhauls, Tijuana Sweetheart, Razors in the Night, and Brix’n Mortar to name a few (Hence the “newish”) called It’s Not Them and can say quite simply: TENSION SCALE, ya had us at the mere mention of ‘The Burbs.
If you’re a fan of the flick then you can sleep well each night knowing you have THE BEST taste in film. Also! You’ll dig the eff out of the many references to the the cult classic across It’s Not Them. If you’ve never seen the flick (Wait, what?) or just don’t like it (Also cause for a “Wait, what?”) then that’s not a problem either because the music that LoWreck (Vocals), Troy (Guitar, Vocals), Jon (Bass, Vocals) and Jay (Drums) collectively make as the TENSION SCALE unit is muy enjoyable as a killer body of Sick Of It All/Cro-Mags-style Old School Hardcore by way of the Bay State.
Five tracks in all, each one better than the last, make up the body of It’s Not Them beginning with “Green Sky” which is (GASP!) not the sequel to The Fixx’s ’80’s classic “Red Skies” but rather the kick off of this The ‘Burbs-inspired trip calling back to a brief moment of reflection between Corey Feldman’s Ricky Butler and Tom Hanks’ Ray Peterson (Seriously, how can you not wanna watch this movie with how much we’re going to talk about it here???)
LoWreck is VICIOUS at the mic, filling each word with an abundance of bite, especially when waxing poetic on “Middle Of The Night” (Example: “Who the fuck drives out in the Middle Of The Night/Beats their trash with a stick!”) as Troy shreds, Jay beats out some big ass beats and Jon raucously rumbles. “House Next-Door” is just old school Hardcore in the vein of those bands we previously mentioned or maybe Tree or Sam Black Church if you’re partial to keeping the references local while “Phosphate Dreams” is built off of some ginormous grooves and a particularly morbid tale within The ‘Burbs (Y’know if you want to go watch the movie now, we’ll still be here when you get finished). Then, imagine if you will, a modern Hardcore anthem centered around one of the most iconic lines of the movie uttered by Bruce Dern’s Mark Rumsfield (“Hey Pinocchio! Where are YOU going??”) and you’d get the It’s Not Them closing number “Hard Camo” which ends the EP as loudly as it started. And that suits us just fine.
It’s Not Them is out now ahead of their debut show at Faces Brewing Co. on September 5th (Get yer tix for that one here) with Neighborhood Shit and Skytigers. For the tunes direct, head here or to the stream below and for all else TENSION SCALE-related, hit the socials across the information superhighway by clicking here or here.