Northern LibertiesSelf-Dissolving Abandoned Universe LP (no label)

DIYing your band is fun and easy for the first year, maybe two, but when you make it twenty-plus years, it becomes something greater, somewhere between commitment, obsession and durational performance-art. Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties are on their eighth full-length, self-released as is most of their discography, and their dedication is impressive no matter if the idea of an art-driven bass/vocals/drums trio sends you scattering to the exit or clamoring for more. In many ways, the comparisons to Lightning Bolt are glaring: noisy bass/drums duo with distorted vocals and a band member who does all of their eye-catching artwork in a signature style. To those of us who are questionably-socialized enough to really get into this kinda stuff, however, there are plenty of differences, as Northern Liberties’s songs are grandiose fantasy prog-rock epics filtered through crusty punk basements. One gets the sense that Northern Liberties don’t have access to a Guitar Center’s worth of vintage equipment or lavish budgets, so they make the available scraps and borrowed instruments come alive in spite of their humble origins, utilizing an affordable legend like Steve Albini to record. Cardboard LARPing post-hardcore metal for art freaks who were born that way. I can’t see Northern Liberties calling it quits at this point – even after they die, I’m sure they’ll be happily gigging in the underworld, to an audience that finally really gets it.

daniel82692 Feb 25, 2024

Abstract, menacing, and idiosyncratic, Northern Liberties ‘Self-Dissolving Abandoned Universe’ is a seismic clash, Thor’s hammer meets the Bell, showering the City of Brotherly Love with a crushing cyclone of sound. A relentless downpour of intense, dissonant, riff-trodden delirium. Yet, with just the right dash of the harmonious and melodious, a real thrill in the teetering on the edge of the full on doom and gloom, acknowledging the brave, bold, and beautiful dichotomy of mainting a sense of hope and enchancement in the face of a grim and unsettling world.

Philadelphia has become the East Coast US’ hotbed for heavy psychedelia, which must be interesting for Northern Liberties, who started out more than two decades ago. The trio’s self-released, 10-song/41-minute Self-Dissolving Abandoned Universe — maybe their eighth album, if my count is right — with venerated producer Steve Albini, so one might count ‘instant-Gen-X-cred’ and ‘recognizably-muddy-toms’ among their goals. I wasn’t completely sold on the offering until “Infusorian Hymnal” started to dig a little further into the genuinely weird after opener “The Plot Thickens” and the subsequent “Drowned Out” laid forth the crunch of the tones and gave hints of the structures beneath the noise. “Crucible” follows up the raw shove of “Star Spangled Corpse” by expanding the palette toward space rock and an unhinged psych-noise shove that the somehow-still-Hawkwindian volatility of “The Awaited” moves away from while the finale “Song of the Sole Survivor” calls back to the folkish vocal melody in “Ghosts of Ghosts,” if in echoing and particularly addled fashion. Momentum serves the three-piece well throughout, though they seem to have no trouble interrupting themselves (can relate), and turning to follow a disparate impulse. Distractable heavy? Yeah, except bands like that usually don’t last two decades. Let’s say maybe their own kind of oddball, semi-spaced band who aren’t afraid to screw around in the studio, find what they like, and keep it. And whatever else you want to say about Albini-tracked drums, “Hold on to the Darkness” has a heavier tone to its snare than most guitars do to whole LPs. Whatever works, and it does.

Self-Dissolving Abandoned Universe LP

Northern Liberties’ eighth album, Self-Dissolving Abandoned Universe is aggressive, nasty, intelligent, and cosmic. As with many of their releases, the band bases their approach in a huge soundscape driven by competing percussion and singer Justin Duerr’s PIL-meets-Blinko howls. As the band’s negative title suggests, the release dwells on mankind’s cosmic lot as well as the gears of the universe. In fact on songs like “Star Spangled Corpse,” gears and clocks clink away in the background, suggesting a sort of astral design… and that design seems specifically bleak.

The Philly group does continue their general theme here- marching band drums driving the procession forward in a death-rock cadence while they contemplate the big questions. Duerr switches from a controlled musing to freak-out howling in the grooves, while the band bends and twists what feels like massive walls of sound. There are tinges of Alice Cooper, Rudimentary Peni, Pil, Bauhaus and any sort of nasty acts. But, whereas most modern goth or death-rock bands would play into cliché, Northern Liberties specifically walks away from things like bats and Victorian capes and looks at the bigger picture. That is, these songs aren’t dress up, they are true attempts to find truth in the universe, or at least a way of communicating a feeling that connects mankind.

A lot of albums are big and brash, but few are as… mature… as Abandoned Universe. The members are in their 40s now and they are still having fun with ghoulish concepts, as most heavy music does. But, they temper both their lyrics and bombast with a calculated expression. They’ll still get down in the darkness, but it’s a more informed dig. Maybe this is due in part to Steve Albini’s engineering- like Eno, he likes to trim the fat. This album is pure NL.

Northern Liberties have umpteen release to their names, many which take the band’s core concept and apply a certain spin- remixes, guest vocalists, etc. This album is a return to their core- it’s basically NL doing what NL does. But, it hasn’t been done this effectively… nor as accessibly, before. It seems that Northern Liberties are always trying to express some high concept or emotion that never quite translate to the more human audience. They’ve done it this time for sure. This album is a soul shaker.

NORTHERN LIBERTIES
Self-Dissolving Abandoned Universe LP

This band is the best kind of weird. Philly three-piece consisting of drums, percussion (photos online show a member playing one of those strap-on marching band tom sets), and bass that delivers a psych blast of crunchy, heavy tunes oozing with experimentation and noise. The drums are ridiculously good, constantly rolling and lurching the songs forward, accompanied by fuzzy bass and overlapping, reverbed vocals that recall a more lysergic LIGHTNING BOLT. “Drowned Out” sounds like a chugging BLACK SABBATH march turned inside out. Check out the beautiful, visionary artwork and sing along to lyrics about the cosmos, consciousness, and other freaky shit. Oh, and Steve Albini recorded it, so it sounds amazing.

• REVIEWERNICK ODORIZZI
• LABELSELF-RELEASED
• ISSUEMRR #488 • JANUARY 2024