Crain - Heater FLAC

Heater is one of the sadly overlooked 1990s post-hardcore albums that deserves more attention. The title and the cover image give appropriate descriptions of the music: Energetic, angry, tense, aggressive. If anything, it is certainly unrelenting in its delivery. The songs themselves live up to their titles. "Blistering" is unrelenting punkish speed. "Knock Yr Daylights Out" has enough aggression in the music to get the point across if the lyrics don't - "All I wanted was a total war / And to knock your daylights out / Uncontested." Jon Cook's and Tim Furnish's vocals constantly shift from violent shouts to lethargic talking, a familiar characteristic of Louisville rock from this time period, and is used effectively throughout. They make "Valium and Alcohol" sound just like that - one under the suppressant effects of the drugs which also inadvertently lower one's guard enough to allow bursts of rage that would otherwise not come forth. The underlying chaotic tones come through clearly on "One Who Hangs" which finally breaks the tension of the album, culminating into a cacophony of guitar noise and bass feedback. The exhaustion sets in, and the drumless "Broken Heart of a Neutron Star" is the final, tired statement of one that has given up on the ordeal.

Steve Albini's recording adds the perfect amount of grittiness to the music. Unfortunately this was Crain's last album, so it is unknown as of this time how much further Crain would - or could - have gone with the power displayed in this record.