Thoughts on Religious Knives...
 

This band has been continuously growing on me for a year. I seem to just like them more and more as I hear more and more. I never thought I'd like them more than "Double Leapords", but after repeated listens to "the Door", it seems to be so. They are obviously waaaay different bands, with Double Leapords hyper-metallic drone tape collage noise explosions and Religious Knives with thier dreamy drone infused psychedelic rock music. But it seems to me, Maya Miller and Michael Bernstien are much more into making this dreamy rock music that gets people vibin, than the shrieking electronics that gets people crouthced into the fetal position. Nate Nelson's rich but simple drumming sounds so much better and in place in the Knives songs than it does in Mouthus where the drums sound just like they are there for the fuck of it.

So many of the great psychedelic bands are channeled through thier unique sound. The wierdest and darkest moments of the Doors are heard in Maya's organ playing. They actually make me like the Doors more, I had to listen to them after hearing the "Door" and dspite all thier albums having tons of duds, they had moments of brilliance. They would have been better off had they had more songs like the Velvets and less like a drunken Monkees (hahaha). Anyways, enough of that. The guitar playing is very simple and reverb drenched but super dreamy and interesting, reminding me more of like a Lou Reed who admits that he smokes pot instead of baffling on about Speed all day. Of course the rhythmic entrancing of the music is total Krautrock-worship. I've heard Popul Vuh named as an influence, but I'm not hearing that, as most of thier albums were just experiments in electronic beauty and ambient soundscapes for the Herzog movies (watched "Cobra Verde" last night, I think that's my favorite, Kinski was fucking amazing in that film). The Knives are rock, and Can and Neu definitely are heard hear for sure, with the spirit of Klaus Schulze making himself known. Another influence that I and others have noticed is Goblin. When the music gets faster and Michael kicks in with the synth, the music gets very progressive and complex, often recalling the super intense chase sequences of Argento's films in which Goblin's synth driven Prog made it impossible to turn from the screen. Like those film moments, this music is impossible to not listen to.

A great band that seems like they might have the kind of longevity to last a long time. They have already proven that they can make a straight forward album in "The Door" and be the most interesting they ever have been. Like other great Rock bands. Religious Knives will re-invent themselves and explore new sounds while never losing that great dreamy pulse that made them great in the first place.

I saw them play a couple of years ago - I was distinctly underwhelmed. It sounded pretty unremarkable to these ears.

saw them open up for moore last year. i wasn't impressed at all

I like "The Door" especially that song about driving to the beach. They have some really boring material but they are evolving as a band. I definitely don't hear Popul Vuh in them.. it just sounds like sleazy noise rock that isn't very noisey and doesn't really rock, with a LOT of repetition, especially in the drums. Pretty cool stuff.

you dont think they rock? i dont think they are noisey at all really, drones are used for sure, but they are a rock band and dont really try to be anything else. the double vocal attack is great i think.

I dunno, they just kinda bore me. Nothing really stands out as anything special, though Thurston's production on The Door is amazing and helps them create a good atmosphere. I think they are on the right track, I've only heard a few of their releases, but they're getting better. I'm excited to see what happens with them. They're nowhere in the same league as Double Leopards for me, though I think they're a thousand times better than Mouthus.

I'm not sure, I think I just need to listen more.

Have you heard "the long salt" and "slow globes" by Mouthus? Those albums are fantastic. I could understand why you wouldn't like Saw A Halo (though I personnally love it), but those are better imo. But you might have already heard them... I don't know, I love Mouthus. I like their atmospheres. I like them better than Religious Knives - I never found Religious Knives THAT great, but maybe I haven't listened to them enough.

i find them a bit hit and miss, having said that i think their best stuff is absolutely amazing. i put off checking these guys out for a long time because i listened to one of their early tapes and it was total rubbish, then a couple of years later a friend played me the record they put out on important and it blew me away, i couldn't believe it was the same band.

I heard Saw a Halo and Slow Globes. Meh.

Their atmosphere.. that lofi recorded-in-a-garbage-can production.. is cool. Reminds me of Ignatz and Gate's production.

I think I just need to listen to 'em more.

i wasnt blown away by anything of theirs exceot for remains which is AMAZING like drony and amazing percussions and arab chants. really great.
i have yet to hear the door

You should check out Loam by Mouthus.
Religious Knives... I've heard the Door, Remains, and the Luck 12". Remains and the 12" are quite cool but I'm not into the Door at all, I find the vocals really bad.
All in all, I infinitely prefer listening to Mouthus or Double Leopards.

I really like Resin and if you can find the pretty rare Live at Bigjar Books it's also worth checking out.

mouthus to me is a band that epitomizes the boring side of underground noise. there just doesnt seem to be anything itneresting going on, just shit loads of meandering guitar effects and such and rambling drumming. two talented guys making very bland music. i saw them open for sighting a long time ago and the crowd was dead by the time they got off the stage, untill mark morgan's skree guitar kicked in and chaos erupted once again. but its like their too mellow to fit in with the super harsh dudes but too bland to fit in with the wierdo space noise and drone outfits. even though they are friends with all those bands. anyways, yeah, they suck. "saw a halo" was prolly the worst album i paid for in 07.

Agreed, I like "Loam". Its thier best by FAR.

Double Leapords were great because they just had something else going on than mose of the other bands in the Brooklyn psych/noise scene. They were wierder, more abstract, almost had a sound petry thing going on, all with these absolutely deafening tones. They were a band who deserve a seat next to the noise greats and not just the 00s over blown out american scene. But I could see them playing with a band like Minamata more than I dunno, Mouthus, haha. They had a pretty phenomenal lineup too which of course helps, Marcia Basset has to be the most rad woman in contempiorary american noise i think, even more so than Jessica Rylan and Leslie Keffer.

this is the only religious knife I know about/

didn't you used to like them at some point? i thought you did, i was pretty sure i read a message from you saying saw a halo was a good record and they were good live or wtf, in a noise thread, but i might be wrong

i like that 12" that came out 2 summers ago, other than that i thought they came off too doors-ish ... nothing has struck me amazing since that 12" ...

A band, much like Scorces, who have a name too entirely brilliant for me to sully my love of the band by actually listening to their music.

i think mouthus are one of the best bands around, incredible when i saw them play, i wish they'd come back to the uk and bring the sightings with them

at least someone reasonable