So Pitted - Neo: Turn it up!

A punk record on Sub Pop still stirs anticipation like perhaps no other genre-label association since the days of Motown.
So Pitted: NeoSo Pitted: Neo
So Pitted: Neo

The Seattle imprint is 30 years old in 2016, and in its infancy released early Mudhoney and Nirvana records, later putting out a trio of great The Thermals LPs.

So Pitted, a trio from Sub Pop’s neighbourhood, have big boots to fill, and with Neo they blow out violent waves of noise that are sufficiently focused and crafted to carry the kind of hooks for which their irascible forebears became known.

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Nathan Rodriguez and Liam Downey share vocals - they also chop and change guitar and drum roles - while Jeannine Koewler pumps her own guitar through a bass amp, corrupting the classic band construct.

A title such as Pay Attention To Me sounds teenage-diary infantile, but remember, Teen Spirit was a deodorant.

The screaming vocals, blazing guitar and dustbin-lid-clatter drums coalesce to form something close to a pop song, while I’m Not Over It is an anxious, grungy strut. Messy, discordant and angry. Turn it up.