La Verkin

Judge the Judger

Self-Released

Street: 08.31.13

La Verkin = Daughters + Hot Snakes

La Verkin’s freshman album is something to admire. Meaty chunks of Form of Rocket, cubed and diced bits of Accidente boiled in a mild Ian MacKaye–based stock—this album is a stewy mess that gets better the following day. Judge the Judger has hot, fast guitar riffs stumbling over sour-crimson bass lines and pithy drum-thrumming—dissonant chords being the binding ingredient. What’s with the soup comparison? It sounds smooth, well thought-out, all six songs have been cared for, and the flavors accompany each other well. The album is still as hard as a day-old roll, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The strongest two songs are “Locomotive” and “The Road”—I can hear Narrows or Pelican potentially playing these songs. Pick this album up and don’t let it sit in the fridge too long. –Alex Cragun