PRESS
Interviews:
The
Defector - November 2007
The
Missoula Independent 10/11/2007
Reviews:
SQUALORA
- s/t LP
So I read somewhere that SQUALORA is most of the members of the
band ASS END OFFEND. Since I've never heard A.E.O. I can't tell
you how this new band compares to their old sound, but I can tell
you it's a pretty awesome record. It's sort of crusty hardcore,
with some heavier parts, and some thrashing goodness. Over all
the music is played at a pretty fast pace, but not too fast. At
times it reminds me of BORN/DEAD. The record has a little bit
of an epic crust feel to it, but not nearly enough for someone
to try and call it a "TRAGEDY rip-off". The vocals are
harsh, but still pretty intelligible. And the cover art is rad!
It reminds me of something Victoria (from DAMAD) would paint.
And the logo is foil embossed for extra cool-ness. (Righteous)
-Profane Existence #56 Spring 2008.
SQUALORA:
Self-titled: CD (Repetitively Futile)
The band’s name is in this prickly font, as if when you
simply think the name it’s like having a sea urchin inside
your head. The songs are the same—one wouldn’t think
that a tune titled “United We Slouch” would put such
a sneer on one’s pate, but oh my does it ever. On the whole,
Squalora remind me lots and lots and lots of Nausea or Milwaukee
crust punk bands from the early ‘90s. This is a good thing;
my understanding is that sea urchins can be pretty tasty when
you crack them open. So is this record. –The Lord Kveldulfr,
Razorcake
Magazine - March, 2008
Squalora
– S/T (Wantage USA)
Portland is truly the home of the heavy. Hell, Oregon in general
has been the spawning ground of some the heaviest frequencies
going in the underground. Yob/Middian, Paranaut, Kilauea, Nux
Vomica, Fall of the Bastards (R.I.P.) and Roanoke are just a brief
checklist of essential listening from the state.
You can add the sneering bludgeon of Wantage’s Squalora
(ex-Ass End Offend) to that list based on the strength of this
eponymous debut record. I have yet to hear Ass End Offend which
apparently features ¾ of this band, so I really can’t
make a comparison to past material. On its own merit this S/T
record is a deliberate fistful of crust that makes its point with
9 precision blasts that tear through voracious punk thrashings
with a touch of epic intent in a few select places. Maelstroms
of barking vocals collide with decisive thrash/punk riff runs
and schizophrenic rhythmic swells to keep a constant stream of
fire on your senses.
Acoustic guitars introduce the sludge-y melodic build of opener,
“A Whole Lifetime Spent Dreaming” making one think
they are in store for a more experimental crust/doom approach
in the vein of Wake Up on Fire but the track quickly turns to
speeding brute force that never lets up until the very end.
Much of the band’s approach finds them using slower, mid-paced
runs to temper their unruly speed. “Villains Desire”
has a churning beginning, mid-point and ending but fleshes out
the rest of its attack with pure unadulterated chaos. Elsewhere
the band is deadest on inciting whirling circle pits with the
nonstop overdrive of tracks such as “United we slouch”,
“Sugar Coated Submission”, “Identity Crisis”
and “Insult Crusade”. Most of these tunes allow any
expansive elements of songwriting to buttress the foundation while
the trio keeps the majority of their focus on amassing a monument
of menacing dirt punk ferocity. Slower power surges still shine
through on occasion but mostly this is Squalora charging their
audience full bore with few restraints.
The weary crawl of “Mind Lapse” flips the coin completely
and slithers forth with an abundance of edgy, doom tinged crust
that only loses its temper outright near the end. Hard nosed riffs
permeate the disease filled grounds with an ill-mannered slowness
that isn’t far removed from a His Hero is Gone/Kylesa cage
match.
Rounding out the band’s weirder forays is the Damad flavored
first half of “What’s at Stake”, which batters
out a desperate, unsettling instrumental cacophony while the organic
flow of closer “Poverty Eugenics” wallows in the filth
of Dystopia early on but finds its way to a startling, megaton
groove in the latter half that justifies the Wake Up on Fire comparison
I was so eager to make early on! It’s a perfect end to a
record that I could find myself recommending to everyone who walks
the crustier side of the streets.
They supply a dose of everything you’d want to hear in this
sound; dirge-y rumbles, pit inducing mayhem and epic breadth.
Not a bad song in the bunch from a group of guys who surely have
a handle on playing this style to perfection. All fans of brooding
crust who dig Wake Up on Fire, Amebix, Remains of the Day, Dystopia,
His Hero is Gone and Kylesa would do well by adding this to their
collection. Now it’s time for me to get educated and check
out the members’ previous exploits in Ass End Offend. Jay
Snyder, Hellride
Music -April 4, 2008
We
consider the following review to be a compliment even though it
is a blatant, although poorly translated and poorly executed shit
talk attack by everyone's favorite little hipster pompous drama
brats and art princess snobs at the Vice office in Italy. It's
an entertaining review for so many reasons!!!:
SQUALORA
S/T Repetitively Futile
Un altro giorno, un’altra band della costa nord ovest americana
che fa musica crust punk. Niente di particolarmente brutto in
questo disco, a parte la tipica adorazione per i Tragedy che praticamente
definisce il suono della scena punk in Oregon. E la puzza. Come
a Genova. Genova è la Portland italiana. Pensateci: eroina,
gente pazza, skins vs. sharps, mare sporco e niente da fare. Se
fossi un teenager di Genova con la giacca di pelle borchiata che
vive in strada con il suo cane e la sua dose di speed questo disco
potrebbe apparire nella mia top 8 di MySpace (o almeno la top
16). Fortunatamente, non sono niente di tutto ciò. -CONAN
IL BABBO, VICE ITALY
TRANSLATION: "An other day, an other band of the coast north
the west American who ago music crust punk. Nothing particularly
ugly in this disc, to part the typical adoration for the Tragedy
that practically defines the sound of the scene punk in Oregon.
And it smells it. Like to Genoa. Genoa is the Italian Portland.
Pensateci: heroin, crazy people, skins vs. sharps, dirty sea and
nothing to make. If pits a teenager of Genoa with the jacket of
borchiata skin that lives in road with its dog and its dose of
speed this disc could appear in mine top 8 of MySpace (or top
at least the 16). Fortunately, they are not nothing of all that."
Oh yea, the tears are just rolling over this one. :D
SQUALORA
- S/T - LP - Wäntages latest signing comes from Portland,
Oregon and was previously ASS-END OFFEND. Now, you are a member
poorer, music henceforth only three and trades under the logo
SQUALORA. Whatever that may mean, the outcome in the form of the
first album can be heard. Modern, melodic Crustcore, constantly
proposes hook, and then suddenly abstoppt again losgaloppiert,
meets a few metal parts and the other moment of contemplation.
The intros and transitions are usually kept quiet and atmospheric
and serve as a good preparation for the ensuing carnage. Matt
Svendsen echauffiert about the consumer and Sensationsgeilheit,
and the value of moral standards of our society. Sometimes they
believe him to despair to hear before it further Hasstirade ansetzt
and his voice that turns over to the hundredth time, or even very
wegbricht. Und nicht nur daran merkt man, mit wie viel Herzblut
die drei jungen Musiker hier zu Werke gehen. And not just because
you realise how much blood the heart three young musicians here
to work. Auch der Versuch, die doch recht eng gesteckten Grenzen
eines Genres wie Crustcore aufzubrechen und durch überraschende
Momente aufzulockern, ist ihnen gelungen. Even the attempt, which
quite tight limits of a genre like Crustcore break and surprising
moments of light relief, they succeeded. Großartiges Debütalbum.
Great debut album. -Ingo Rotkehl, Ox-Fanzine Ausgabe #76 (German
zine, not soo legible!)
SQUALORA
S/T LP - I kind of want to say that Squalora plays pure hardcore,
just because I want to say I actually like hardcore music. To
tell you the truth though, most hardcore bores me to death. Not
only because it’s preachy as all fuck (I know there is a
bunch of stuff about principles and ethics inherently attached
to it, and blah blah blah…but I don’t really care),
but because I grew up with the idea that all there was to hardcore
sounded like the Cro Mags and Agnostic Front. And despite how
much and for how long I have to bow to both bands because of their
place in underground music history, musically, I never really
cared for either. And image-wise the whole muscle head angle never
appealed to me. Times have changed though, and with that new rules
of allowance have come into play; such as that one that says that
one may cross pollinate hardcore and metal without having to be
categorized a poser. Not
that there is a ton of metal to the hardcore of Portland’s
(via Montana) Squalora, but the quotient is there. And is enough
for me to say that I like hardcore without necessarily digging
most of the straight up East Coast hardcore and more importantly,
without lying. Plus, this band rips alright with pissed off attitude
but is low in the muscle head value; high in ridiculously hyperactive
energy and bold enough to offer up some pretty moody breaks (beginning
of the six-minuter “Mind Lapse”). Squalora is formed
from the ashes of Ass-End Offend, a band I know nothing about
besides that they once existed under the name Ass-End Offend.
Of their current sound I can tell you that is utterly vicious
but is also smart with plenty of variations (of tempo, texture,
etc); breakdowns, skin ripping velocity, grinding riffs that step
into classic thrash and raw vocals that walk the loose tight rope
between both; hardcore and thrash. Truly, listening to Squalora
grants me the right of lying without really lying. -Deaf
Sparrow, March 2008
SQUALORA
"And so they died miserably ever after" LP - This is
decidedly not the generic metallic crust that is pervasive in
the scene. Squalora is mixing things up with some very unexpected
and beautiful moody landscapes that break into all-out raging
thrash attacks. This shit is not only well played, but it is masterfully
conceived. The lyrics are smart and engaging takes on what is
usually summed up in chorus of "fuck the system", which
although it's a sentiment we can all appreciate it deserves to
be pulled apart and really contemplated. -MRR #298, March 2008
They
arose from the ashes of Missoula's ASS END OFFEND & play heavy/fast,
political hardcore. Part Kylesa low-frequency kudgel, part Anti-Cimex
crust blowout, their sound is a fresh, powerful one. Lyrically,
the music deals w/ the frustration of living in the Bush-era,
punk scene egotism & class struggle. -Sakistore.net
SQUALORA
(S/T) CD - "A strong dose of modern, heavy, speeding crust-core
from Portland (by way of Missoula, Montana and containing three-quarters
of ASS END OFFEND), reminiscent of the quirkier side of late-'90s
flirtation between underground hardcore and metal a la WORD SALAD,
MEDICATION TIME, or early FROM ASHES RISE. Nine longer tracks
with complex and drawn-out song structures that weave together
dark prog rock-ish intros (acoustic and flange!) and bridges,
bleak lumbering heaviness, and offhand metal influences, and break
or pick slide into wicked thrash blasts with caustically shouted
and grufflyspewed vocal tradeoffs. The rambling lyrics are relevant,
timely, and unfortunately seemingly a current anomaly -great,
outraged attacks on consumerism, Fox News, apathy in light of
present political realities, etc. Cool!
-MaximumRockNRoll
#296, January 2008
Woohoo!
Squalora LP simply amazing! How can this be? Why sit back and
enjoy these stunning, yet limited features: Awesome futuristic
mirror effect on the LP jacket! Poster as well as most the cover
art done by the guy who did the artwork for the movie "Enemy
Mine"(yah, the alien movie with Dennis Quaid!!! Wow! I, like
most of America, love Dennis Quaid!) Possibly some of the best
Montana punk from Portland, Or ever! Blows the cd away simply
because we put it out! Seriously though, as this being our 3rd
release I am very happy to say that it was the most expensive
but probably the most satisfying record we've put out so far.
If you've never even heard of Squalora seriously check out the
comp from last month. They, like a lot of Portlnd bands give me
great hope for our scene. We now return you back to your advertisment:
Buy it from us orders@thedefector.com $10 + shipping or it should
be available at most punk record stores in a bit! This has been
another shameless promotion brought to you for and by us. - Riot
of the Blood, The Defector, Issue #36, November 2007
Squalora:
To Release CD in Former Home, Missoula, October 13, 2007. The
last time a band released a CD with a the spindle-hole square
in the forehead of a current Commander in Chief, it probably wasn't
a band with Montana roots. In fact, the ex-Montanans who comprise
Squlaora have been in Portland, Oregon for the past year and a
half. Maybe that's where all this anti-government business comes
from. Prior to that, when they had a fourth member, and were called
Ass-End Offend, they lived in Missoula. Squalora represents the
the unfortunate brain drain that periodically robs the Treasure
state of it's best and brightest rock and roll bands. See also
No-Fi Soul Rebellion, the Fireballs of Freedom, members of the
International Playboys, the Quiet Ones... the list is as long
and peppered with talented acts that thought a geographical change
would translate easily into larger audiences and more opportunities.
Ass-End
Offend, who featured second guitarist and full-time dad, Brent
Shultz toured the US three separate times, and with the financial
support of Missoula bands (Volumen, Sasshole, the Oblio Joes,
the International Playboys and Bacon and Egg) and fans through
the Punk Rock Prom fundraiser, toured central Europe in 2005.
Ass-End Offend Released 4 7" records and a CD/LP called Character
Assassins.
I, along
with a crust-punk cum carpenter friend from Kalispell, put out
the new Squalora CD, and new friends of theirs from Portland released
the vinyl. It's in a couple of words: loud, fast, heavy and pissed.
Kind of like a scalded griz on a tear through a campground.
Squalora
play the Palace Lounge (on Broadway in Missoula) on Saturday,
October 13. Punks Jacktoptown and double-drummer thunder Sierra
Leone open. Doors at 8PM, show at 9:30PM. Presale tickets $5 at
Ear Candy, and $4 with a Captured by Robots (whose "Dubya"
performance happens simultaneously upstairs at the Badlander,
Saturday) stamp. -Wantage USA (press for CD release)
Rainy
ol' Portland has had a Swedishifying effect on these transplanted
Ass End Offenders and friends. Squalora comes belting out of the
gates with all the fury of No Security or Abuse or Mob 47 or Anti-Cimex
or any of those svensk hardcore legends. Pissed, blazing fast
and heavy as Pig Champion (RIP) standing on your penis. -Total
Fest Programme, August 2007
Squalora
plays metallic hardcore, but adds some cool experimentation into
the mix. There are some long, slow moody parts that stand out,
and then this rips into total thrash mayhem. Vocals are rage.
-Erin Yanke, Maximum Rock N Roll #288 May 2007.
From
the Ashes of Ass-End Offend rises Squalora. 3/4 of AEO moved about
500 miles west to the same spot where about 80% of Missoula's
brain drain ends up. Their demo recording predicts big things
for these dudes. XdISTORTX 4VRX! -wantageusa.com
