Beef - ‘Take It As A Threat’ review
Beef by Madi Napieralski
Despite my never ending love for all things DIY in music, this latest release may have turned a new corner, even for me. Beef, the all-female hardcore punk band from Philadelphia are dropping their debut EP on 29 March 29. 5 Songs, 7 minutes 14 seconds long. Take It As a Threat is out tomorrow, here's what we think:
Opener ‘Highwater’ is one of the longer tracks on the EP, for what that's worth. There's been a couple of releases from bands like Filth is Eternal and Shooting Daggers that have shared the same praise as Beef do here. We bloody love an 80-90 second banger of a punk track. Even more so when a calculable percentage of the song consists of the word "bitch" or "pussy". This track is a great example of the gruffness of Manda McCormick's vocals, akin almost to Barney of Napalm Death (a band for which Beef would be an excellent fit to find themselves on tour with).
‘It's All The Same’ clocks in at a similar length but shows the range hardcore genres can yo-yo between. Jess Maier has a beefy (pun intended) intro on the bass, a la Beastie Boys. McCormick again leads the track, this time with a monumental screech, the pitch of which sets the tone for the next minute. Despite a lot seeming similar with the first two tracks, they're quite different, and 'It's All the Same' is punishing and heavy. Personal favourite.
‘Russian Roulette’ is where it gets very difficult to ignore the inherent grooviness of some of Beef's music despite it being a complete sprint. Certain guitar parts from Lauren Fritz in this track remind me a lot of fellow US punks Scowl. Though in terms of the makeup of the rest of the track, Manda's voice has this cutting and memorable shrillness to rival Kat Moss's gravel. The real star of ‘Russian Roulette’ is the absolute kicking the kit gets from drummer Nora Maupin. The mix of this record highlights the drums, in a genre that is already quite spotlight heavy for percussion. That said, the latter half of ‘Russian Roulette’ is a proper speaker shaker.
Rounding out the EP are final tracks ‘Command Patrol’ and ‘Seek and Destroy’. ‘Command Patrol’ just pips it for the shortest track on the EP, at 65 seconds, and again, we have an all-killer minute on our hands. It's based on some very rhythmic drumming and guitar sections, before an almighty breakdown. The echo on McCormick's "Skin you alive" lyric is borderline haunting and then brings everything crashing down for the final 20 seconds of the track.
Finally, ‘Seek and Destroy’ is the only track on the EP to surpass 90 seconds. This feels very much at home with something like Filth is Eternal's ‘Pressure Me’ or ‘Into The Curve’. Both seem to bring what is already very cataclysmic music to a crescendo. In Beef's case, it honestly felt like ‘Seek and Destroy’ was tacked onto the end of the EP as an absolute flex. So much happens in that slightly longer format to show there may be a real heavyweight emerging in the Philly scene.
Song length is so frequently mentioned with this EP to commend Beef for showing a LOT of versatility with not a lot of time. The group have an especially no nonsense approach in their music, which is funny considering the origin of the band's name starting out as a rib. To say Take It As A Threat houses a few surprises would be taking things lightly. Because of that, it's super exciting to see where Beef goes from here.
Pre-save Take It As A Threat from Beef out 29 March and available on all good streaming platforms.
