Kalistani Major History

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Chasm drops S/T album on VDR
Grit album is "strongly personal" and "righteously angry"
Port Swedes, Vrassa
May 1, 5088


Despite their cheery outward demeanors, Chasm's new S/T is "definitely not a love letter to Swedeport"

Chasm's most recent release, Chasm is even grittier than their first two records. The new leaders of Grit, Chasm burst onto Republican radio with their grungy punk rock album Double Daniel four years ago, and their follow up, Kiss Our Ass performed modestly well, but was a commercial disappointment compared to Double Daniel. On their third record, the quartet from Port Swedes takes a different tact: One of relentless outrage.

"Our record is definitely not a love letter to Swedeport," said Chasm Frontwoman Kathleen Harding. "This place sucks my a--hole. This is a hateletter to this rotten cold ass smackjunkie ridden hellscape. You hear all these bands talking up where they come from. Well, I can say, as a life long citizen of that town that Grit is an appropriate name for the music it produces. Nothing but junkies, and the people who are too busy ducking their bullsh-t to clean up the streets. Swedes just takes takes takes, everything from everyone."

Harding and band deliver a dozen songs full of righteous rage and anger. The immediate impetus for the record was the death of Harding's husband, Dave to heroin overdose. When asked about his death, Harding simply said "Its on the record." Almost in spite of Harding's cathartic outpouring, the record is a solid Grit album, hearkening back to Grit's foundations in alt-folk. Harding switches to electric lead on this record, and her aggressive riffing is accented throughout the record by the acoustic rhythm guitar of Allison Moses. A solid, but almost understated foundation is laid down by bassist Madalyn Von der Platz, who shares rhythm duties with Moses, while Drummer Cary Greenwood matches the aggro tone of Harding.

"Chasm's S/T is a genuine reflection of the strange evolution of Port Swedes music," said reviewer Petra Donahue. "It is far louder than all other music playing in the Republic, whether its the sunny alternative of Suldanor, or the pop punk and RF pop of Kaliburg, or the alt-folk music further up in the hills. On its worst day it is rawer and more honest than anything else happening in the Republic. To some degree its a product of the weather. It's sunny maybe 8 days out of the year, and warm almost never. You gotta be hardscrabble to even live there. The music reflects the attitude and the outlook of the people, who are plagued by an environment that means they will be working, hard, all the time, and with no hope of tomorrow being much different than today. That's reflected in grit, and that's exemplified on this record."

Overall, the songs are about loss and grief and being angry at that. "When you think about what she's singing about on this record, you hear a woman who feels wronged, that something has been stolen from her unjustly," said Donahue. "There's not a lot of power or agency here the way there are on Chasm's previous two albums. This is a post loss record, one written in the aftermath of a great injustice." The last two songs were penned by Harding's husband before he died. "I think Chasm brings a sense of grievance that were not in the songs before she lost Dave to heroin. She's mad: mad at a system that allows the depression that often seems pervasive in Port Swedes turn into an epidemic of addiction. She's mad at Dave for not controlling his usage, and in the end just giving in to it in the end and embracing death, rather than fighting for life. And she's madder at herself, more than anything or anyone else, for not being able to stop him. All that comes out on this record."

Harding's outrage resonates well with a certain segment of the population who feels divorced from the system, who feels that the policies of the Government don't apply to them. But for the most part, the people buying the new Chasm record are the longtime fans that Chasm has cultivated since their breakout success four years ago. "Yes, Harding is angry. And yes, her band helped her make a cathartic record," said Moses, "but yes, Chasm is literally the biggest professional band on VDR at the moment, and are seasoned veterans. And they are, at the end of the day, in the business of selling records."

Harding herself seems to confirm this sentiment. "Yes, I mean, I have a good reason to feel like I do. And god damn, that feeling powers me right now. This is the best music we've ever made. And I am just pissed that Dave just quit on himself, and on me. But my band picked me up when I was down, and they were like 'We're here for you. We'll do whatever you need us to do.' And so we made a record and got all the poison out, and at the end of the day, my life will go on."

Chasm's first single from their self-titled LP is "Addisjah" which was one of the two songs written by the late Dave Harding. The record, distributed by VDR, is available across the Republic.