CORDS Hear! See! Feel! Taste! 1996

 

Discogs

 

Alas, another non-flattering review. Listen and decide for yourself.

Hear! See! Feel! Taste! Review

by Nitsuh Abebe

The Cords' semi-riot-grrly sound (one Babes in Toyland reference goes a long way) sounded a bit unnecessary as of the early nineties -- 1997's Hear! See! Feel! may be better-constructed than the Cords' earlier work, and its songs might be better, but there's something very unlikeable about the fact that the band was still treading these same grounds as of the late nineties. There are a few new developments -- a few less guitar-heavy twists, and a greater eye toward composition instead of rock power -- but the sound itself was rather done as of Hear! See! Feel!'s release, making it difficult to give the album much credit.

Tracklist

1		Sugar Riot	3:11
2		Rood	2:18
3		Flea Market	2:35
4		24 Hrs	5:26
5		Blue Chaos	4:58
6		Titan	1:17
7		Dazzling Confetti	3:45
8		Singing Bird	3:28
9		Stomp	1:44
10		Shockproof	2:48
11		Girl Without A Smile	3:26
12		Daystar	4:09

CORDS Taurus No Bull 1993

by request

Discogs

 

Review

by Nitsuh Abebe

The Cords' two albums tend to be pretty monochromatic, so it's important to consider musical context when evaluating them -- by these standards, 1993's Taurus No Bull is definitely the better. That's not to say that it's particularly impressive -- the band can pretty easily be described with a single Babes in Toyland references, meaning that Taurus No Bull is a decent but largely unnecessary entry into late-period riot-grrl-ism. An interesting conundrum emerges, however: 1997's Hear! See! Feel! tend to fare better with this sound than Taurus No Bull does -- but at the same time, this sound was growing somewhat tired as of 1993, and it's practically unconscionable that the Cords should be releasing the same sort of work toward the tail end of the decade.

Not the best review the Cords has ever gotten, but a lot of people I know seemed to like them.

Tracklist

1	Angellust
2	Mirror
3	My Dearest Friend
4	Eat Your Heart Out
5	Gasping
6	Second Skin
7	Taurus (Star)
8	Dreamsong
9	Dolphins & Whales
10	Plastic Sister
11	Different
69	[Untitled]