GAWJ REVIEW FROM PUNK AS

Hamilton band Gawj may have flown under most radars, but that's probably the way they want it. Don't believe that? Maybe the title of their latest vinyl 7" will give it away � the charmingly named, So Far Away From Giving A Fuck That We Can't Be Seen. I actually have a CD-R version to review with no tracklist and has two six-and-a-half-minute tracks on it, even though the 7" apparently contains 15 songs packed into those 13 minutes. So forgive the lack of individual song mentions, but in the case of So Far Away..., it probably is not required in any case. This is a ferocious barrage of a release, the songs racing past at breakneck speed and full intensity all the way through. There is not the slightest concession to verses and choruses or, fuck it, even melodies. This is about mainlining despair and aggression in the purest way possible. Drums clatter frenetically, guitars feedback and vocals shriek incomprehensibly. Easy listening, this ain't. In spite of all that, while the intensity never lulls, Gawj introduce a fair amount of variety into their work. Tempo changes, samples, groove variation and more mean there is more to chew on here than sheer ferocity. If there is a criticism, it may be that Gawj have not forged their own unique sound; this release sounds like a number of other bands. But when they're doing it as well as this, who really cares? A take-no-prisoners 'fuck off' statement as blunt as its title, So Far Away From Giving A Fuck That We Can't Be Seen is a short, sharp shock meant for the die-hard fans of the genre.