The bitter truth is that Rolling Stone hasn’t shown a whole lot of love for Pittsburgh bands over the years, but the magazine seems to have a thing for Code Orange.
The Pittsburgh hardcore metal band, which formed at Pittsburgh CAPA in 2008 as Code Orange Kids, have landed on Rolling Stone’s list of the 50 Best Albums of 2017 So Far with their third album and Roadrunner debut, “Forever.”
Rolling Stone writes of the album which was released in January:
“Pittsburgh quartet Code Orange play juddering, malevolent hardcore, shot through with dissonant groove and macho swagger, but they arrive at a unique sound via unsettling ambient interludes and shrewd doses of melody. Or, as Code Orange drummer/vocalist Jami Morgan told Rolling Stone last year: ‘When you feel settled in, I want it to just [expletive] you again.’ Latest single and album highlight ‘Bleeding in the Blur,’ sung by guitarist Reba Meyers, finds the band veering convincingly into hook-forward alt-metal and proving in the process that its shock tactics are anything but typical.”
By the way, Websters defines judder, a word not normally used in rock reviews, as “to vibrate with intensity.” Your mechanic may have used it to describe that car you just bought off the used lot.
Code Orange, which displayed that malevolent hardcore, last month at Stage AE on a tour with Gojira and Deafheaven, are juddering along the road right now, tearing it up festivals.
Upset magazine wrote of its set at the Download Festival in the UK, “In what feels like something between a blistering hardcore set and an obscure performance art piece, Code Orange are nothing short of spectacular as they live up and exceed their title of most anticipated band of the weekend.”
Rolling Stone’s 50 albums list, which is not ranked, also includes the likes of Run the Jewels, Aimee Man, Willie Nelson, Roger Waters, Paramore and Drake.
Scott Mervis: smervis@post-gazette.com; 412-263-2576; @Twitter: @scottmervis_pg
First Published: June 22, 2017, 1:27 p.m.
