An excellent album with a solid punk vibe, We are Ill is a full-on high tempo, high energy romp through the surreal, noisy, psychedelic and at times, weird. It achieves an excellent balance between serious, irreverent and mocking with intensity, distortion and quite a lot of feedback.
ILL Song
Ominous sounding church organ riff, drumming and guitar pick scrapes create an edgy opening with spoken vocals leading into a more uptempo section. A great energy to the song, sounds like a demented fairground ride with increasingly chaotic and edgy vocals. Take your pills, everything will be fine.
Space Dick
Great opening riff and drumming, background sound and vibraphone type sound create an excellent groove with superb energy. The background sounds are like a faulty arcade machine getting more broken by the second. There’s a great anger in the vocals that sound like they’re mocking really corny chat up lines / put downs.
Stuck on a Loop
Dirty distorted bassline accompanied by drumming and distorted riff / distortion effects, it’s an uptempo groove with an edge. Vocals have a great energy with some cool harmonies.
Bears
Distorted riffs and synth create a laid back groove with a brooding quality and great edge of tension. Vocals are kind of surreal and a bit menacing.
Bus Shelter
A kind of heavy metal riff to open accompanied by kick drum, guitar chords and noise kind of counteract this creating a great edge. Drumming gives a solid momentum, vocals have a brilliant don’t give a shit attitude.
I Am the Meat
An oscillating, pulsing feedback type of sound, drumming and choppy distorted chords give a menacing feel. It’s psychedelic at times, noisy and a bit disconcerting. It’s a serious subject treated with a mocking contempt.
Slithering Lizards
Excellent psychedelic vibe with growling bass, distorted organ and delayed pick scrape effects. Great vocal harmonies add an edge of tension. Great development of guitar lead line / riff with a superb change in momentum to a more uptempo feel with a building intensity and energy that releases to a slower jam building tension to a final release.
Power
Distorted bass and pick scrapes to open, brooding drumming creates a laid back groove with distorted riff. Vocals have a simmering anger and tension. There’s excellent background distorted sounds / feedback and great control, the song feels like it’s going to run away but is reigned back in.
Hysteria
A big synth bass type sound to open accompanied by distorted guitar riff given momentum by bass and drumming. Vocals have a great energy again, intense guitar playing maintains the energy.
