Where have I been for Akimbo’s first five releases? It’s like I was lost in the belly of a whale…
Or possibly…a shark?
Akimbo, a Seattle three-piece wall of heaviness, has been in existence since 1998. I’m ashamed to admit that I had never even heard of them until a friend loaned me, this, their sixth album, Jersey Shores. I listened to it once and became an instant convert. Then I listened to it again..and again..and again…
The band left former home, Alternative Tentacles, to join up with Neurot Records, Neurosis guitarist/singer Steve Von Till’s label, for this release. Jersey Shores is a concept album, one of those rare enigmas that sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. This time out, it does – in spades. The concept is based around the famous 1916 Jersey Shore shark attacks, in which four people were killed and one injured. The band keeps the story short (there are only six songs, although two of them clock in at over ten minutes) and brutal. Without a lyric sheet it’s not always easy to decipher what vocalist, John Weisnewski, is screaming about, but I’m betting it’s something along the lines of “Sharks are attacking me!!! They’re fucking me up!!! Chomp, chomp, chomp!!!”
Jersey Shores is quite heavy and, at times, gets into a thrashy groove, but what the band does best is slow things down to a painful crawl and even adds some extended ambiance in the form of quiet, feedback-laden passages. Usually, these build back up to skullcrushing, repetitious riffs that are almost hypnotic in their simplicity.
Check out Jersey Shores, immediately. Then do yourself a favor and look into Akimbo’s back catalogue, too.
8 skulls out of ten.
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