Sun Woman

Brooklyn, NY-based Sun Woman share Sam Brodsky (guitars here) with high-energy metallic hardcore/grinders Meek Is Murder (where he abuses the low-end), but their sounds couldn't be more different. Alan Douches (Converge, Mastodon), who mastered this self-titled album, described the release as "a mix of Converge and Nirvana," and while this description is undeniably simplified and pat, it is nonetheless extremely accurate. There is a wry, raw grunge rock twist to the song structures, like a boy with lank hair and a crooked smile sidling up to you in a way that's both creepy and appealing. Sun Woman's sound is also a great deal more aggressive and expansive than just that, combining hardcore muscularity with cerebral progressive tendencies. Then there are moments like "Waterslides," where the bowel-twisting discomfort is traded for scuffed but optimistic, sunburnt rock. It's not often a debut, self-released title is also this self-assured and clearly realized, but Sun Woman is one of those rare efforts that springs forth from Zeus's head fully formed.