On their second album, Toronto’s Greys tap into an early 90s spirit and sound of artful thrash and angsty tension. Produced by Mike Rocha at Hotel2Tango in Montreal, Outer Heaven leaves behind the straight-ahead fury of the group’s debut, instead opting for art noise and post-punk. The result is often delightfully overwhelming in its heaviness, with the calm moments in between making the ear-splitting loud parts disturbingly jarring. These extreme peaks and valleys elevate the record into the realm of difficult but deeply satisfying art.
No Star – about dealing with racism in the wake of last year’s Paris attacks – bristles with startling anxiety during its slow build, as singer Shehzaad Jiwani grits his teeth and then screams as the song explodes into punk onslaught. Standout song Sorcerer is uncomfortable but fascinatingly weird, depicting a world of sickness and souls torn away and monsters in cages. It pairs guitar squalls with short-lived creepy, dissonant stillness. Many of Jiwani’s lyrics are variations on the theme of dissatisfaction – the album’s a bleak, sometimes draining affair.
But he can also laugh at himself, as he does in Complaint Rock with the hilarious line “Staring at a black hole all day long / my life’s a fucking Green Day song.” The tune is a hell of a trip, equal parts Bleach-era Nirvana’s wild abandon and shimmering shoegaze. Dreamy closer My Life As A Cloud, about technology-driven existential dilemmas, unnervingly pulls back on the guitar thrash. You brace for a punch that never comes.
While the 90s influences are clear, Outer Heaven sounds steady in its own era, splicing up old sounds and altering their DNA for the present.
Top track: Sorcerer
Greys play the Garrison on May 13. See listing.
