On their ferocious debut Attractive People, Genre Is Death prove that Noise Rock still has fresh arteries left to rupture. GID is comprised of the male/female duo of Ty Varesi on guitar and vocals, and Tayler Lee on bass guitar and vocals. The duo weaponize abrasion and melody in equal measure, grinding dissonant riffs against cavernous reverb and blown-out distortion until the songs feel ready to collapse under their own weight. Yet beneath the chaos lies a sharp sense of structure that keeps the album thrilling rather than merely punishing.
There’s a definite lineage to iconic NYC Noise and No Wave bands like Lydia Lunch’s Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, Pussy Galore, Sonic Youth, and Swans going on here. However, Genre Is Death avoid retro cosplay by injecting their music with an urgent, contemporary desperation. Songs like “Lust For Now,” “Up, Up,” and the title track balance jagged, distortion-caked riffs with hypnotic rhythms and sneering, reverb-soaked vocals, turning chaos into something strangely infectious. “I See Red,” “Prized Tune,” and “Audience” find Genre Is Death colliding wiry post-punk tension, pummeling rhythms, and deadpan vocal sneers into a gloriously abrasive wall of sound. Recorded by legendary engineer Martin Bisi, the album captures the sensation of two people clawing their way out of boredom and into something volatile and alive.
Having already shared stages with Gogol Bordello, Bush Tetras, Lydia Lunch, and Jon Spencer, Genre Is Death sound less like revivalists than the next mutation in New York’s long, gloriously, Noise Rock lineage.
