Vomitface, “black-surf avant-grunge” from New Jersey (ENG)

by Luis Fernandez • May 15, 2014 • Mosaico, Noticias • Comments (0) • 2034

Vomitface started as a manifestation of Jared Micah and Preetma Singh’s dissatisfaction with the lackluster state of mainstream/”indie” music that was in severe contrast to the alternative-friendly radio they grew up on. The name Vomitface stuck as a memorable and apt title to convey both that dissatisfaction with current pop culture and for their noise-rock influenced brand of heavy melodies. Jared had been musically involved in numerous projects up until joining forces with Preetma, a young law school grad who went into fashion in New York City, later to discover her true passion: beating the shit out of drums. After developing their sound, the two recruited longtime friend Keller McDivitt to play his brand of sludgy distorted bass.
Jared and Keller had grown up together in a small town in west Tennessee, where they worked at a record store together and hunted for new obscure music that was unbelievably scarce in their country home. As they searched for larger pastures, Keller and Jared ended up in Nashville, where Jared misguidedly attempted to succeed as an experimental musician amidst the honky-tonks downtown. Bassist Keller McDivitt was developing his reputation as an audio engineer in his evolving home studio (now Dungeon Beach in Brooklyn) and playing in the post-rock outfit The Ascent of Everest. Jared also found a hobby stealing wheelchairs from the entrances of major groceries and giving them away online to those in need who had been turned down by Medicaid. In between those endeavors, they stumbled upon Preetma escaping the drudgery of law school at shows around town; and, the core of Vomitface was unwittingly spawned.
It wasn’t until everyone ended up in the general New York City area through a number of coincidences, though, that Vomitface finally materialized.
Although Vomitface plays throughout the Brooklyn DIY scene, their true home is in Jersey City, a grittier, more punk (and overlooked) cousin to Brooklyn’s latest trendiness.
Their sound has been described as “black-surf,” “avant-grunge,” and “what Mudhoney may have been if Mark Arm had been more influenced by Devo than by The Stooges.” All of these descriptions are terrible, though.
The 4-song EP (5 songs for digital version, ran out of room on the vinyl) was recorded in a day in Brooklyn by Bryan Pugh and Chris Gilroy. The 7-inch is limited to 133 copies, with 33 hand-numbered, puke-green marbled vinyl. The effect of the record was paraphrased by E. Adam: “Vomitface puts perverse language poetry to heavy, fuzzed-out stoner guitars with actual hooks that have long been absent in current trends of indie rock.”