Often plagiaristicly resembling Big Black (and to a lesser extent Breaking Circus)
Bastro's messy, cathartic guitar-laced industrial grind practically worships at the altar of Albini & Co. on their debut ep - and maybe that explains why I can't get enough of it. Featuring two expats of
Squirrel Bait (
David Grubbs and
Clark Johnson) Bastro, in tandem with their Chicago icons, employed a drum machine. Despite what sounds like a jumbled, claustrophobic mix,
Rode Hard... at the very least is not diminished or diluted in the songwriting department, with the bristling "(I've) Ben Brown" effectively hailing the band's breathless arrival. "Loam" and "Three Eggs In a Sock" breach similar caustic, post-punk depths, and in fact there are virtually no respites in sight on this wonderfully furious record, save perhaps for "Counterrev: Bhutan" a cacophonous instrumental peppered with free-jazz horns. Two full lengths were to follow:
Diablo Guapo and
Sing the Troubled Beast before Grubbs carved out a niche for himself in the '90s with
Gastr Del Sol and
Palace.
01. (I've) Ben Brown
02. Three Eggs in a Sock
03. Counterrev: Bhutan
04. Gold Fillings
05. Loam
06. Extract
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