The Joint Chiefs
And Still We Kill
7.5
More often than not, as soon as anything is spotted sitting on a store shelf with a pot leaf on its cover, I pick it up, look at the song titles, and put it right back down. Sucks to say it, but when you hear an album that begins with bong hits, then proceeds to slop through fifteen or so tracks of utter offal which is entertaining to only the band and their friends, it’s about as pleasant as being front row and center for the explosion of a bloated, rotting beached whale whose insides have decided to come out and give you an up-close, and personal hello. It was to my surprise that The Joint Chiefs have chosen to avoid the throwback approach of other THC enthusiasts, if not one hundred percent lyrically, at least the music these guys make can be taken seriously for being a competent melding of ripping thrash and stoner groove metal on And Still We Kill.
Not to be confused with the folk, hip-hop, or reggae bands they share a name with (for you Google users), these three Northern Vancouver potheads sort of tumble out of their smoky room with a chunky stutter that comprises the first minute of “Pro-hibit”. They quickly shake the cobwebs off and launch into a thrash attack that recalls the spirit of primo Sacred Reich and Holy Terror, blazing full throttle with tight machine gun riffing, hyperactive polka tempos, and mid-ranged, often clipped hardcore vocals dusted in a strange sort of melody. “Violent Deterrent” starts out with a swinging Southern sludge groove that drops into a smoking oddly-timed chorus that reminds me of Cowboys From Hell Pantera, before jumping headlong into nice rapid fire leads, and a neck-snapping outro.
The more I listen to this, the more I begin to hear bits of Fear, early Anthrax, Soilent Green, and Exhorder. With no rhythm tracks dubbed under the leads, and all the instruments sounding as raw as it gets, the old school flavor wrapped in a modern frame of mind is almost too good to bear for nostalgia buffs. When something very close to a blast beats erupts during “Lies”, the way the music feels slightly off by just fractions of seconds heightens this Live From Our Garage feel, and it really works well in context. When things get spacey during the bass solo of “Duncan Shaw”, it’s enough of a breather to grab a quick toke before “M$M” rampages through with a return to the fuzzed-out gallops and catchy hardcore verse arrangements. For a change, it was great to hear shout out choruses that didn’t sound so damn contrived and fake.
There aren’t many massive walls of political statements to climb over if that’s something you might be afraid of dealing with, no more so than any other metal or ‘core band, really. Even if you don’t agree with their pro-marijuana stance, dynamic tunes like “Wasted Life” and the eclectic “Galactica” are so interestingly arranged and pleasantly intelligent in design that the grooves take hold and rule over any differences of opinion. From the start of “Pro-hibit” to the end of the rampaging closing tune “Still I Kill”, The Joint Chiefs provide one hell of a good time for those of us who would rather smoke and then go out and do something rather than sit in a dark, stuffy room playing videogames and laughing at passing gas. I’ll happily take a puff of what these guys are burnin’, and pass it along to you, to pass along to others. Hold it in deep, it‘s creeper and you've had better, but don't expect to complain too much about the buzz.
