E.P Review: CHIHUAHUA - Violent Architecture

CHIHUAHUA - Violent Architecture E.P

It's been a long old week here at NNWNF headquarters. I awoke on Wednesday morning feeling like I'd been run over by a truck - and not in the ultimate expression of love 'There is a light that never goes out' type way. I was drenched in sweat and had, what I can only describe, as a honking cough. It made me sound like a defensive Sealion fearing for the safety of it's young. Inevitably, I had to get myself a test to ensure I wasn't struck down by ..you know what.

Thankfully, after getting my result a day later, I was negative of..you know what. The relief was tangible, but I still felt like a sack of spuds. Unfortunately, this has meant this review has taken a bit of a back burner until I felt vaguely human. The aches and pains have eased somewhat, but I'm still indiscriminately coughing up fragments of my thigh bone. Anyway, enough of my woes, let's get NOISY. 

The power of noise can never be underestimated. I'm lucky enough to look back on several gigs where the emotional response to such overwhelming noise can be well.....overwhelming. From the incessant drone of Sunn 0))), to the wall of feedback of My Bloody Valentine and Boredoms, with the sheer quantity of musicians involved (4 drummers, 10 guitarists) - noise has the potential to inspire, terrify and create sonic dimensions we don't often get to travel in.

                   Photo by Joe Cammiss Low 
                   (www.joegproductions.com)

Manchester's CHIHUAHUA are a band looking to tap into the emotional extremes that Noise Rock can create. They've been biding their time to release their debut E.P 'Violent Architecture', after some raucous live shows ruffled some feathers in and amongst the Manchester underground pre Covid.

 'White Cane Bruise' is the grand opening statement that is very much hoped for. The drums thrash out with sinister intent and are joined by a sprawling, encompassing guitar. They dance together tightly, but with danger at the core of their union. The bass joins and vocals are quick to follow, the screaming ranging from tense to headache inducing at times. The second half of the track shifts a gear or two allowing the band to really play with it's early Sonic Youth dynamics.

'Drawbridge' has a much more subtle intro, with a quieter approach heightening the feeling of foreboding - it could easily be coming from the twisted world of Swans.  Seemingly arbitrary blasts of drum accompany a guitar tone that does little to ease your fears. The lyrics are delivered in increasingly paranoid instructions, that sound as if they could be coming from the leader of a family under attack in Game of Thrones.

Pull up the drawbridge. Let out the crocodiles. It's knock, draw and loose. And our hate soars for miles.


Arguably the highlight of the E.P is the track that puts it more in tune with CHIHUAHUA's peers. 'Towering Narcissus' builds menacingly before a monster of a riff hits - coming across more Stoner Rock than they have previously. It's the vocals though that lift this track to a more 2021 sounding effort - they could easily be coming from Squid or Black Country New Road. Becoming increasingly shrill and mentally unstable, the lyrics reveal an uncompromising assessment of modern, inner city architecture and how it reflects on the vanity of their wealthy owners. 

I look up at them, they tower above me. Titans of cold glass consuming concrete. The rich gaze at themselves in their mirror building. 
  
The second half of the track is a totally different animal and again it allows CHIHUAHUA to cosy up with the best of their contemporaries. It's a much more lucid sound the band showcases here, changes in time signatures that I won't or can't understand are prominent and it has a virtuosity about it that will draw comparisons to Black Midi.

There are shorter interludes on the E.P that perhaps don't make their mark quite as intended. 'Total Commitment' and 'Crutch' seem to be parts of tracks that didn't fully materialise, but these are minor criticisms in the sense that they work quite well at breaking up the longer tracks surrounding them. The former at least, shows a different approach by the band too, with intelligently used samples and a thrashy ending that could have been elongated to more effect.


Clocking in at just under ten minutes long, the E.P's closer 'God's Favourite Sports Car' is the track that really tries to distil all of what the band has to offer in one, long sprawling opus. It build slowly and deliberately with guitar lines interweaving and sounding almost like windchimes; the calm before the storm. Drums pound excitedly with stabs of guitar and it's a matter of time before the track explodes into life - it's exhilarating stuff. There are waves and waves of distorted, de-tuned guitars that threaten to engulf like a sonic tsunami. 

After a couple of short breakdowns, the aggressive vocals come to the fore sounding like Joe Talbot from Idles fronting Manchester Noise Rock legends Gnod. The lyrics show a disdain towards the charity-based economic model of major religion and the hypocrisy contained within:

Excuse me Sir, Can you donate?
So my preacher can put a Maserati
behind his gates.
God's favourite sports car.

The songs ends with a relentless attack of noise - in the eye of the storm - before fading out into calm, relaxing tones. The assault on the senses is over and it's a bewildering experience. I presume that's very much the point.

With 'Violent Architecture',  CHIHUAHUA have produced a collection of songs that have proved the old adage about their Canine namesake to be correct - It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. For a band teething in it's infancy, this E.P is a great indication of the potential on display, with more fully formed antics to come. CHIHUAHUA's musical puppyhood is going to be a wild, noisy ride. 

You can buy 'Violent Architecture' from the band's Bandcamp and follow them on FacebookTwitter and Instagram

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