Chances are if you read anything about the new Powder Room record, you’ll come across something about their tour van and how it spontaneously combusted into flames. There it is, after all, captured in perpetuity on the album artwork, an image both violently destructive and keenly beautiful in that way only fire can be. Metaphorically, it suits the band and their LP, a seething noise rock inferno that crackles, simmers, and burns across 11 explosive tracks. “Fire can symbolize passion, anger, turmoil, war, etcetera,” frontman Gene Woolfolk acknowledges. “It is a recurring theme on the record.”
While still incredibly aggressive, Lucky is a more streamlined and atmospheric album than the trio’s debut, Curtains, which often relied on the band’s sludgy riffs to do the heavy lifting. It’s a subtle evolution that feels natural and organic, which makes sense for a band that doesn’t give much creedence to things like forethought or methodology. “It’s kind of all over the place,” Woolfolk answers vaguely when I ask him about the group’s writing process. “You find your strong points and improve on them.”
Like its predecessor, Lucky was recorded and mixed by Kyle Spence, the Harvey Milk drummer who Chunklet’s Henry Owings once labeled one of the two best players to ever come out of Georgia. Under his discerning eye, the Powder Room uncork an album full of high octane rippers and slow-roiling bruisers that seethe with a kind of lurching menace. The rhythm section of drummer Patrick Ferguson and bassist Bubba McDonald are especially locked in, their metallic sludge grooves and galloping punk intensity providing a steady framework for Woolfolk’s combustive riffs and searing feedback. But while the trio’s songwriting has grown undeniably smarter and more clearly focused, Woolfolk credits much of the album’s success to Spence’s knowing hand. “That guy knows what sounds I want,” he says. “He has a lot of great ideas when involved with recording and he doesn’t shove the ideas down your throat.”
Noise rock and noise punk has seen something of a re-emergence over the past couple of years, creating avenues for more louder, more abrasive music to be exposed to wider audiences. With Lucky, the Powder Room have constructed one of 2016’s most incendiary records, local or otherwise. Whether or not that leads to greater acclaim remains to be seen, but my guess is the band is not much for accolades, critical or otherwise.
I had every intention of writing an in-depth review to accompany this piece. I even went so far as to ask Woolfolk for some of his thoughts on each track. Unfortunately, however, life gets in the way sometimes and I had to set aside my plans. Still, his song analysis and statements of intent are hilarious, occasionally insightful, and well worth your read, so I’ve decided to share them with you below.
On “Vanburner”:
“You know when your van catches on fire and you write a song about it? This is one of those songs.”
On “Lucky”:
“It capitalizes on the duality of luck.”
On “That’s No Way to Live”:
“An old song… Almost old enough to have made the cut to Curtains. Living in the past is no way to live.”
On “Abort”:
“This is about an aborted fetus avenging its premature death.”
On “Deep Dish”:
“A song about an globetrotting slice of deep dish pizza that has zero skills in forging long-term relationships.”
On “Black Dress”:
“A song I wrote on acoustic guitar and it was around the time Bubba and I got bass VIs. I thought it would be funny to take an intimate singer-songwriter idea and make it heavier than fuck. Thayer Sarrano and Chris McNeal of Vincas sing on it.”
On “Interlude”:
“Something I came up with in the studio to make the transition from the A side to the B side.”
On “Sycophant”:
“The closest thing to a single we’ll probably ever write.”
On “Workaround”:
“I wanted to throw a curve ball. It’s an optimistic bluesy jam. Austin Darnell from from the Darnell Boys plays the harp on this one.”
On “The Elitist”:
“It’s about a quiet game of chess.”
On “Nothing Important Happened Today”:
“Life can be hard sometimes. Don’t take your life. It’s not fair to your friends/family.”
The Powder Room will perform tonight at the Earl in support of Illegal Drugs (Record Release). Fellow locals Day Old Man open the show. Doors open at 9 p.m. Admission is $8. 21+ to enter.
More Info
Bandcamp: thepowderroom.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @thepowderroomathens
SoundCloud: @thepowderroomga
Twitter: @thepowderroomga