MP3: My God Damn Territory - Used to be
I look at the ever-increasing piles of mediocre CDs crowding my desk and I can't help but feel defeated. There's a few gems in there to be sure, but I'm fully daunted. To say nothing of all the downloads in my incoming directory -- more often than not, I'd much rather listen to all the old-school death metal I've been gathering than some uninspiring no-name wannabees. Like I said though, it's not all bad. Only a few are truly awful, the overwhelming majority are merely forgettable. What's it take to stick? Name recognition helps. My God Damn Territory's bio mentions ex-ex-members from Blithe, Randy and Refused as well as Celestine and, even though I recognize none of the actual personnel names, I figure that at least earns them a cursory listen. Of course I wouldn't be telling you about them if they weren't good, so let me spell it out: My God Damn Territory are a solid band. They've got a ridiculously long roster of musicians who appear on their new self-released album "Between art and failure" and the record's widely varied sound reflects that, though the songwriting remains consistent. They cover a lot of ground from noisy 90s-style indie to postrock and beyond, but you can always tell it's the product of the same mind(s). "Used to be" stands out to me as one of the more driving numbers and the repetitive, overlapping vocal melody is hard to forget, especially with those bendy guitar notes that bookend it. Best of all, it just sounds so different from anything else I've heard as of late. And the whole album is available as a free download. Good enough!
My God Damn Territory - Used to be