Portion Control - Wellcome

To be honest, I didn't know much about Portion Control when I got this CD. But after a few minutes of search on the internet I found out that they have been active since the early 80's.

Anyway. This is a double CD, one of the discs is liver coloured and the other disc got the colour of fat, means some kind of sick yellow/white colour. The discs come in a clear, shatterproof polypro case as it is said on the bands homepage. So, the design from disc to case feels good. 10 points for that.

This piece of music is divided into four sections, or themes if you prefer. Beef, Mutton, Veal and Viscose. The music feels naked and brutal in some way, but there are still many sounds and arrangements that make the whole feeling good. This is a mixture of good noise and electro. Sometimes it almost feels like the hard rock version of pop.

Under the theme Veal I like the song "Intravenous" that got a heavy sound. The Viscose part got a more chaotic nature and I think "Prime" is the one song I like best. There are different sounds and instruments that struggle for taking over the music and the listeners ears. A very naked sound, although it's not negative at any point.

About Beef then, I think I like "Blue Man Sees Red" is the best song in this part. And it's here I comes to think of the hard rock version of pop. A rough pop-sound. I think it's the best explanation I can give right now. "Fidelity" is the best song in the last section, Mutton. A very short track, but still I think it's the best one. Some clicks and scratches, computer winds and background noise.

This record is a must for those who like Portion Control, but it's also a nice add-on to the CD-shelf for those who like electro and noise. And for those who are interested to see them live the 6th of November is a great opportunity to see them at Tinitus '04, Münchenbryggeriet in Stockholm, Sweden.

This review was written 2004 and initially published on Neurozine.com Jan 01 2004