Smoke & Smoke seem to pick up where
Godheadsilo left off. Not to say that
Smoke & Smoke do not take their music to a different area, but two thirds of
Smoke & Smoke are made up of Mike Kunka and Dan Haugh, formerly of
Godheadsilo, and the other third is vocalist Spencer Moody of
Murder City Devils, so one can see that some residue from their former bands should remain. Yes, as one could guess,
Love Suffers Long is a musical assault with nine songs in 19 minutes. Tracks like "Intro Smoke and Smoke," "Teeming With Eyes," and "Abondon Ship" have the straight-up force and immediate power that one comes to expect from the bass-and-drum combo. Vocalist Spencer Moody, whose vocals sound like a mix of
David Yow and Jack Brewer from
Saccharine Trust, is an interesting addition to the mix, giving the chaos a melancholy undertone.
Smoke & Smoke get a bit angular and successfully use dynamics a bit on
Love Suffers Long, especially on tracks like "Bathrobe Jacket" and "Smoke and Smoke Against the Machine." The otherworldly, unheard-of bass tones and huge beats pound out a stop-start fury on "Throw the Lever" and "Boys, Books, and Kitty Cats."
Love Suffers Long is a intense debut from
Smoke & Smoke -- the only other way to get this kind of intensity is probably to go see them live. ~ Francis Arres