Iceburn

Made Out Of Babies (2006) Coward

What are you afraid of, coward?

There’s something taunting and downright intimidating about the sophomore album
by Made Out of Babies that befits its title, Coward. Like that well-worn catcall, it’s every
bit a menacing challenge.

And, by all rights and means we should be intimidated by this NYC quartet that looks
like a composite of every schoolboy/schoolgirl crush and sounds like a ferocious hybrid
of PJ Harvey, Jesus Lizard, Babes In Toyland and Big Black.

On stage, caterwauling front-woman Julie Christmas paces the floor, yelping with a
bewitching intensity that defies her charming beauty and (occasionally) cherubic
whispers. Meanwhile, towering guitarist Brendan Tobin coolly strangulates leaden
sheets of guitar strata from his battered six-string, bassist Cooper lunges in time as his
instrument rumbles and slithers around Matthew Egan’s relentlessly churning rhythms
and blood-splattering drum fills. There’s no rock machismo in the sounds of Made Out
of Babies, which just might be what makes it so unsettling and unique. Instead, the
group bears a mysteriously unified all-out visual and aural aesthetic assault reminiscent
of mid-period Black Flag. And yet, there’s a certain curious glamour to MOoB that gives
it a monolithic appeal.

MOoB’s sophomore Neurot Recordings album was recorded with the equally
intimidating Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago, which could only be described
as a match made in… loud. Where its previous album Trophy condensed its songs into a
single psychotic impulse, Coward blasts its sound inward as well as outward, like a
cathartic supernova from a band driven beyond any point of being rational. Does that
sound like hyperbole, coward?

Take a listen: from the very first throat-searing yowl that opens the album, Coward is,
quite simply, bigger that you. “Proud To Drown” lurches with Cooper’s staccato bass line
tugging at Matt’s pulsating 6/8 drum pattern while Brendan’s Middle Eastern tinged riff
winds it all up to erupt. While “Fed” temporarily cools the band’s frenetic energy to
greasy throb, it seems primarily to highlight the fact that Julie can really sing – not that
any of us are likely to coax a sweet lullaby out of her anytime soon. But, her vocal
acrobatics -- leaping effortlessly from a demure whisper to a note-perfect murderous
scream -- are in finest form here, reminiscent of Leslie Rankine of Silverfish and/or a
more demented Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Throughout, the album Made Out of
Babies remains evocative, intimidating, brutally frank and -- as the International rock
press shouted with glee over the band’s stunning Neurot Recordings debut Trophy – by
far the label’s most unabashedly rocking outfit.

Artist: Made Out Of Babies
Title: Coward
Label: Neurot Recordings - NR046
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 2006
Genre: Rock
Style: Hardcore, Noise, Post Rock

Songs:
1 Silverback [3:33]
2 Proud To Drown [4:55]
3 Fed [4:32]
4 Mandatory Bedrest [4:50]
5 Death In April [4:34]
6 Out [4:49]
7 Lullaby 03 [1:36]
8 Mr. Prison Shanks [3:39]
9 Gunt [4:58]

Band:
Bunny (aka Brendan Tobin) - guitar
Cooper - bass guitar
Julie Christmas - vocals
Matthew Egan - drums

Notes:
Recorded and mixed at Electrical Audio, Chicago, Illinois by Steve Albini
Mastered at Golden Mastering, Ventura, California by John Golden
Photography By [Cover] – Norbert Gariety
Written by Made Out Of Babies (tracks: 1 to 4, 6 to 9)
Song N°5 "Death In April" Words [Poem] by Penny Geoghan

Made Out Of Babies (2006) Coward