In 2005, the DIY hardcore band Toxic Narcotic took a hiatus, and two of their members used to time to form up Mouth Sewn Shut. I may be setting myself up for some abuse, but I like Mouth Sewn Shut way more than TN.
Mouth Sewn Shut takes a tried-and-true form of music - East Coast crust hardcore - and mixes up the formula again by dropping it onto a reggae beat. It sounds weird, but man, it's awesome.
The record opens with a few all-out hardcore assaults, "When Is It Going To End" and "Ass Ass In 8", which are great hardcore tunes, but by the third track "World War 3 Is Coming", the guys have settled into what can only be called a "groove", which is one of the last words I'd have ever thought one could so readily ascribe to a band with such hardcore roots.
It's not just reggae grooves either, there is a decent bit of ska rearing its head as well. In a year that's seen a ton of stellar ska already (fishbone, Mustard Plug) as well as amazing brutal hardcore (Wednesday Night Heroes, Appalachian Terror Unit), Mouth Sewn Shut has found a way to meld the sounds into an incredibly smooth amalgamation.
Lyrically, the band is a full-blown anti-corporate attack of nihilism - no new themes here, but it's delivered with honesty and the full-blown brutal intensity one would expect from a band with its roots in Toxic Narcotic, but did I mention that Mouth Sewn Shut has a groove? I know I did, but it's just that good.
Doomed Future Today hits its high notes with "Watch Out", a song about being spied on by the digital age that is way too smooth to come across as paranoid, and on the record's closer, "Doomed Future Today", a nihilist anthem with more of the sweet licks and beats that litter the entire album. But looking for high points on a record that's this good is really like looking into a bucket of chicken wings and being asked to pick the tastiest bite - when it's all this good, any bit will do.
Generally, when I refer to a "gateway band", I'm talking about a pop punk band that's light and palatable, a band like blink 182 that serves as an easy introduction for kids looking into punk rock. I will go so far as to call Mouth Sewn Shut a gateway band to crust and hardcore. They have a great sound, intelligent and honest lyrics, and the groove that I have mentioned about six times so far in this review. Kids looking to explore crust bands would do well to pick up Doomed Future Today, but old-school crust bands are not going to be turned away either.
