A Limerick Ox - Blog Archive

At the deli counter of my local market, there’s a guy who works there who has flesh tunnels in his ears. Well, I assume he has those since I’ve never seen him with his ear adornments, because he never wears any when he works. But it’s a pretty safe bet: As he’s there, slicing ham and turkey breast, his stretched lobes dangle loosely; two fleshy appendages drooping and pendulous, a quivering mass of organic material which strikes you because it’s not an area which is supposed to quaver like that.

So I can only assume the reason he doesn’t wear the plastic rings which keep his extended earlobes snugly in place is that his boss asked him to remove them when on duty. Most likely for some sanitary concerns. But standing there and watching him handle minced cold cuts with those two long strips of skin swinging about isn’t exactly the most savoury sight. And I have trouble understanding how his flesh tunnels, which are essentially earrings, pose any kind of health risk. But then again, there’s no reason for me to be grossed out for my food, because his earlobes never connect with my meatstuff. It shouldn’t bother me, but it does.

It’s that kind of dichotomy which powers Cleveland outfit mr. Gnome. The very basis of their approach on a song like Pirates is to drone us with some soft, supple notes, only to criss-cross over those with powerfully loud distorted noise. This is achieved both through the impressive vocals of guitarist Nicole Barille, who can go from an eerie whispering to a clamorous wail in a spasm, and Sam Meister’s unrelenting, ear-splitting, boundless drums which explode into merciless persecutions of silence. Punctured with unpredictable rhythms and heart-racing sonic pummeling, whether you marvel before its crackling femininity or are stunned by its face melting hardcore rampage, both mesh perfectly together, like the earring to the lobe.

MP3: mr. Gnome - Pirates

www.mrgnome.com
myspace.com/mrgnome

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 10:24 pm and is filed under download, free, MP3, mr gnome, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.