CP/M self released single

Some tracks from Earth and Harvey Milk are just frightening. I'll never forget listening to Courtesy and Goodwill Towards Men one night not really knowing what to expect and being completely blown away by how far Harvey Milk went on that record. Completely unexpected, it wasn't metal or pure drone either, and coming from 1996? Well they were just decades ahead of their time. CP/M out of Baltimore seem to be drawing on some of those references with an early '80s tone. If Lust for Youth took a different direction with their timeless damaged electronics it could have ended up like this.

A-Side's "Hang" winds up into big feedback and slow menacing power chords in the true sense of the word, wallowing in boot sucking sludge. The lead vocals are forced back into the background and he's got to really yell to keep his head above water. This trudging deep melody sounds like it's built out of single notes turned up to max volume and strung together rung by rung in perfect endless repetition. There's some kind of slowed down sample in the back of this which had me playing this at 45 at first. A lot like yesterday's Lakes with a more guitar centric world view, some kind of drums going on here but that could be the sample or an ancient drum machine. Heavy but not sounding like these guys would rather sacrifice you then have you hear this single. Smart screened green on black sleeve of maps, the insert TRS-80 font making me think the connection to Control Programming for Microcomputers isn't a coincidence. I like to think drone could have an early computer connection. Those circuits now seem like they're running at this speed...or this is like the long glitches from playing back a Commodore datasette.

B-Side's "Intl" opens on a Shellac guillotine sound of multiple guitars and bass marching in lock step. Just plain scary, there's an inherent unease about this arranhgement before the vocals confirm the mood. Just something unsettling about that perfect cutoff and power of the sound. K on vocals actually starts to open up with controlled vibrato as the guitars distortions line up in a Fucking Champs synth sound. There's even a melody buried in the distortions which got their 15 minutes outside in the yard chained to a tree. The rigid rhythm returns even tighter the second time. No one is getting any kind of freedom under these circumstances. The tom beat grows to a feedback squeal as this is cut off at the knees.

Get it from the band direct.