Sub-Division - The Primos EP

Genre rock Publisher Hard Soul Records External Links Sub-Division Hard Soul Records

Effects have long played a role in popular music. Robert Moog, Brian Eno, Germans, and the 80's have all showcased extensive altered and/or electronic instrumentation. Peter Frampton, Black Sabbath, and more recently (and extensively) Radiohead and Mars Volta have all been known for vocal processing. The Vocoder, distortion, delay, and many others have played into making voices seem more intense for the past three decades. Unfortunately, in recent years bands including Sub-Division have been using this method in a static, bland way: leaving it on all the time.

Sub-Division hail from Mexico City. Their first EP has three originals, and three remixes. Aside from distorted female vocals, the music is pretty solid, with pulsing basslines, sparse guitar work, and hammered drums. The addition of three wildly different videos on the EP makes for interesting watching. With a fish-eye lens feature, still animation showing the band "The Primos," kidnapping a man who later jumps to suicide (the main lyric has to do with suicide after being left), and an exercise in zooming with set decoration all are present on the disc. Also a surprise is the AIFF files for the single instrument tracks, in case you care to do a remix. The remixes on the album are both cut-up heavily and laden with additional instrumentation, and remind us that, like processing, remixes don't always need to be present. Sub-Division is currently readying their full-length to be out on Hard Soul Records.