Fatal Flying Guilloteens
Quantum Fucking (A Fictitious Real Life Account of Young Love in the Streets) (2007)
Brian Shultz
Houston, TX's Fatal Flying Guilloteens are another band in the beautiful line of acts taking Drive Like Jehu's manic, guitar-driven energy and condensing it into sub-three-minute, frantic, spastic bursts. However, FFG have actually been around since the early 2000s or so, dismantling punk-fueled post-hardcore its elders perfected a decade earlier with the same nods here to the Jesus Lizard as they've carried all along.
On Quantum Fucking (A Fictitious Real Life Account of Young Love in the Streets), an effort just as economical as most any of the band's past work, the music finds a variety of vocalists (three-fifths of the band handle the job) snarling over angular, beaten guitars, from stop-start palm-mutes ("Reveal the Rats") to call-and-response dirges ("The Siren"). All along the way is a noisy, twisted sense of melody, with all the band's vocalists taking turns with the lead; all have vaguely similar characteristics, but having each contribute a little something keeps Fucking from becoming stale, with enough pitch range among the four to really get a weird but unique feel.
Despite the aforementioned overall strength of the vocals, the guitars really carry Fucking well. They temper the band's aggression into erratic, jumpy numbers that spit a little vitriol while retaining enough for the next track, seemingly referencing everything from Dischord and SST to Touch & Go.
Quantum Fucking may be a bit one-dimensional, but it's still a shifty, grooving and frenetic listen, all wrapped up in a tight half-hour.