USA Nails are consistently the victims of inaccurate historicization, in so far as we’ve listened to them a fair bit, and quite amiably, but always forget who the fuck they are when it comes to press time. Putting on one of their records, though, everything becomes clear: this isn’t brick wall grinders Nails, but the dirty, shouty noise rock band that sound somewhere between Blacklisters, Metz and a less cheeky Mclusky. Phew.
‘No Pleasure’ features members of Oceansize, Hawk Eyes, Future of the Left future past, so its fury is true: guitars screech at one another before falling gracelessly to the ground, while the catchy riffs are also the ones that sound like sirens fighting each other — word up to that second track, which can make noise both for dynamism, and also for noise’s sake. Feedback rocks; rock the feedback.
‘No Pleasure’ is business as usual with a few tricks thrown in, like the unwinding guitar motif that splits open the record’s fifth track — it’s noise rock’s discordant equivalent of twang, and the track plugs in a psych rock seatbelt before a feral spoken word tirade kicks in. This sound has been done a lot, and I’ve heard more than my fair share of dudes losing their shit over dirge rock, but for USA Nails, it’s the same as it ever was — good. I promise never again to incorrectly recollect them.
Christ alive, the lineage of this band’s membership… You should know whether or not USA Nails are for you when I tell you which groups have alumni represented here: Kong, Future Of The Left, Oceansize, Hawk Eyes… “No Pleasure” is thus, obviously, a furiously tight and gnarly noise-rock slab. CD or fancy coloured vinyl on Smalltown America.
The Fat Angel Sings 