"when you leave me at home alone" (Noun - Throw Your Body on The Gears And Stop The Machine With Your Blood)

Noun
Throw Your Body on The Gears And Stop The Machine With Your Blood

why you'll love it: fun and kitschy goth, adorably grim

why you'll hate it: cheap production, tame compared to Screaming Females

I haven't played a new video game all year.  The closest I've come has been The Binding of Isaac's DLC content: Afterbirth.  It's a retro-Zelda inspired dungeon crawl that's drenched in cartoony gore and occult imagery.  The best description of Noun's sophomore album, Throw Your Body on The Gears And Stop The Machine With Your Blood, is that it's the perfect companion to a game like The Binding of Isaac.  It's the exact same tone, very similar music, and even the album cover looks like it could be a boss fight.

For those not into indie-roguelikes, Noun would be more commonly known as a side project by Marissa Paternoster (of Screaming Females). The 2010 debut came and went, but all of the ridiculous goth influence of Throw Your Body... gives Noun some real character.  It's like a high-schooler's notebook in audio form.

Don't expect the same level of power and grit a traditional Screaming Females album has.  Right from the first few seconds of this album, you know you're getting a DIY effort.  The cheap drum machine effect would come off as irritating in most cases, but here it just adds to the kitsch.  "Pain" and "Tidal Wave" sound more like the Doom soundtracks than they do any Screaming Females songs.  There are a few outstanding guitar licks, but even those feel nerfed by the mix.

Musically, there is nothing outstanding about Throw Your Body....  Paternoser's dark imagery takes up all of the spotlight, and she does a fantastic job of walking that thin line between fun and corny.  Even some of my favorite bands that specify in horror, like The Paper Chase, sometimes threw out a cheeseball line about skeletons.  I can't think of a single moment of Noun's 36 minutes of theatric sorrow that had me roll my eyes.  This album is soaking wet with misery, but the delivery is dry as a bone.

As 2015 comes to a close, I'm seeing plenty of albums that aren't exactly a total package, but cater so well to its niche that I just want to give them a big hug.   Throw Your Body on The Gears And Stop The Machine With Your Blood is certainly one of those, as much as it would probably resent the hug.