Blast The Loud Company’s Amateur Science, catch them at Ortlieb’s this Friday

Big surprise here: The Loud Company‘s latest album Amateur Science, released May 13th of this year, is loud. It’s meant to be played loud and a good chunk of its lyrics are intended to be shouted, not sung. Nearly everything about this metal/punk band seems to be high volume, and by the time you read through the next few paragraphs you’ll probably have read the word “loud” so many times that it doesn’t seem like word — if that’s not the case already.

Amateur Science‘s opening track “Redrum” sets the tone for whats to come. Powerful chords and an ominous drum beat build the suspense until all hell breaks loose with several minutes of rock stitched with a defiant “F you” attitude. This song and can easily evokes a vision of a room of headbangers going wild. “Queen Creep” follows, keeping the pedal to the metal (I have to stop with these puns).

The cowbell emerges in “I Lost Feeling,” only to succumb to the numbing chorus lyric of “I’m ashamed to let it show, you gave and then you go.” “Is it ever enough for you?” asks Zach Boyle, lyricist and and vocalist, in “Big Stars.” At this point, the theme has become obvious — someone did Boyle wrong and he’s not happy.

We get a deeper look into Boyle’s mind when he sings that a “voice in my head tells me it’s you” on “Born Ready” after deciding to “call it off, call it quits” in the catchy “Lady Lookin.'” “Is my secret safe with you?” questions Boyle, as his he further unravels his thoughts through through the lyrics of the distorted “All Ten Fingers.” The drums are then put on hold for a quieter track as Boyle talks about what happens when his eyes are closed in “Snake.”

The noise is back up to par on “The Killing (Is Killing Me),” but only to be abruptly ended by the surprising swing of final song “Sold Out.” It’s not the ending one might expect after such a vicious collection of songs set a louder precedent, but that’s not a complaint.

A quick listen to Amateur Science will give you the notion that The Loud Company was going for something very much like a Queens of the Stone Age. But a more focused approach shows The Loud Company is more than just a loud — they’re pouring themselves into a very personal story of loss and its accompanying anger and confusion. And they’re doing it in a way that melts the ears.

The Loud Company joins Andorra and The Versa Contrast on Friday, July 1st for an 8 p.m., 21+ show at Ortlieb’s. Tickets can be found at the XPN Concert Calendar.