Low Fat Getting High's BAD YOGA will mess you up! (in a good way)

  Low Fat Getting High is one of those special bands who can appeal to both the hardcore kids and the indie rockers. I guess it's "crossover potential," but that usually applies to country/pop, dance/hip hop, etc. etc. Anyway, Fugazi and Minutemen did that, indie/hardcore thing the best, but Low Fat Getting High sounds nothing like them. LFGH is more of a post-hardcore aural assault (with a lot of grungy/metally elements), with enough carved out melodies and riffs to keep the most song-minded indie kid engaged. A trio, made up of vocalist/guitarist Michael Sincavage, bassist Artie Tan, and drummer Kaleen Reading, LFGH released their first studio produced EP last week.

Artie on the left, Michael on the right... Kaleen's in the back, being lifted towards the heavens.

Tittled "Bad Yoga", it's a real bruiser from start to finish. Despite the howling guitar, I find it to be a real drum driven release. Reading's drums push and pull the piece from "moderate hardcore" to "mud/blood/sludgefest", and hits every step in between.  Let's break it down, track by track.

Better Better Worse is the opening track, and it shows exactly what the band truly is. Huge, pounding drums and tight rhythm guitar and bass. Sincavage's vocals add a grungy flair, but don't seem the least bit derivative. There's a monster guitar riff section towards the end. Bouncy and energetic, though still driving and powerful in a dark sort of way, it's a great start to the EP.



Childhood Friends comes next. Right off the bat I'm struck by the full crunchy mid tones of the guitar. It cuts through the mix extremely well, and gives the bass/drums/vocals plenty of room to operate, while still sounding extremely full. Sincavage screaming "Have you lost your fucking mind?" and the ensuing instrumental section might be my favorite part of the EP. Tan's bass is really solid on this one too.



The Claw is the third track and starts right where the other's left off, a quick count in, manic drumming, and screeching feedback. Soon it settles into a verse/chorus structure, and basically, this is THE hardcore song on the EP. Oh, it takes me back to the old VFW hall, canned food driving skinhead button making steel toed bliss. Thanks guys. I don't listen to this stuff enough anymore.



My Hate is the last song, and the entire B-side. At five minutes, it's more than twice as long as anything else on the album. This song is "pre-Superunknown grunge"; before the genre was commodified by monied interests, back when it's punk and metal (but mostly punk) roots were still very obvious. My Hate is a cool track that takes the listener on a bit of a journey, and shows that the earlier two minute rockers were written by choice, and not some sort of innate compositional limitation.



  I've seen these guys play live, three times I think, and they are a total blast. If you like "Bad Yoga", you simply must make it out to a show! "Like" them and follow them on Bandsintown, and make a point of seeing them play. You won't regret it!

Like LFGH on Facebook ---> here.

Check out "Bad Yoga" in its entirety on Bandcamp ---> here.

Like Hearts Bleed Radio on Facebook ---> here.

And check out our next showcase ---> here.

See you at a show...  ;)