smog moss introduced again the sweat, scum, and savagery of hardcore punk with cop porn!, a battering ram of barely structured rhythm and Machiavellian angst that offers the Boston duo’s disdain a set of enamel. The lo-fi chaos is extra than simply aesthetic within the distorted and discordant observe that revels in rawness; it’s a vital part of the defiant and debased composition that scratches its identify into the again of your cranium earlier than the one-minute mark.
Whereas most punk tasks rehash the previous to maintain their underground credibility, smog moss punches down the stylised expectations with a sound that has no intention of becoming contained in the margins. By the stripped-back instrumentation of a drum and bass setup, cop porn! manages to get louder than most five-piece outfits. It’s a nauseatingly adrenalised dirge wrapped in a warped bounce that mocks and maims with equal measure, and there’s no mistaking that it was born out of a scene that also sees cops because the enemy, not the caricatured antiheroes they’re changing into in some quarters of the mainstream.
Shaped by Margot and Aidan, smog moss are presently desecrating the Boston underground with their self-described pond punk scum jazz noise. Whether or not their output is goofy or grotesque, it all the time has the ability to depart you bruised and buzzing.
cop porn! is now accessible on all main streaming platforms, together with YouTube.
Assessment by Amelia Vandergast.