theHell – Southern Medicine

It is always a little disconcerting hearing an instantly recognizable voice overtop music that it would not normally be associated with. The first few seconds of Singles Night, the lead track from Southern Medicine, are a little confusing since Matt Skiba’s voice is so familiar from melodic punk group Alkaline Trio. The garage pop song is perfect for dancing, sounding like The Strokes may have if they’d been influenced by The Misfits. This is pure rock and roll; more in line with Atom Willard’s other band (Rocket From the Crypt) than Skiba’s. Thematically, the songs are exactly what you would expect from a Skiba project (especially one named theHELL), oozing with enough warped darkness to make Chuck Palahniuk jealous.

Second track, Emerald, is the weakest of the quartet, if only because the guitar work is vaguely reminiscent of the ultra-irritating Aussie group, The Vines. Plenty of fuzzed out guitar work and wild drumming round out the ever repeating refrain of “I got my emerald,” but the song doesn’t quite manage to live up to the rest of the release. Frantic howling and ominous chanting suggest untapped potential, but the song ends leaving the listener feeling hollow, waiting in vain for the payoff.

The EP picks up again with Transients, which again highlights Willard’s skills on the drum kit. The shortest of the tracks, it makes up for brevity with passion. The most energetic of the songs, Transients is a punk rock song with plenty of swagger. Southern Medicine wraps up the disc. This song is the most Alkaline Trio like of the four, with Skiba’s melodic whine singing lines about finding the devil in bed with his wife.

The second release from this super duo serves to leave listeners lusting for more. It whets the appetite, but at around 10 minutes, just isn’t long enough.