Band: JOUGH DAWN BAKER
Genres: Punk / Hardcore / Emotive Hardcore / Metalcore / Math Metal / Post-Metal / Crust / SludgeRelated artists: Heiress, Born Anchors, Caparza and Man Years.
Country: Bellingham, Washington USA
Years Active: 1996-1999
Song: "Boise Cascade"
Album: "Vade split"
Year: 1999
For fans of: Botch, Llynch, Majority Rule, Lamantide, The Exelar, Deadguy, Enkephalin, Furnace, Nineironspitfire, Angel Hair, His Hero Is Gone, Straight No Chaser, Bleeding Kansas, (early) Baroness, Portraits Of Past, Closure, Mercy Ties, Advocate, Anger Is Beautiful, PG.99, The Minor Times, Lavotchkin, I Am Your Curse, The Setup, Curl Up And Die, Arkata and Groundwork.
Label(s): Henry's Finest Recordings
This post's artist is from the April 2017 Mix. This is track #4.
This post's artist is from the April 2017 Mix. This is track #4.
When I visited Swamp Fest 2016 and met Marilyn Necci for the first time, I bought quite a few fine records from her vintage, personal collection. Among them was the split 12" for Vade and JOUGH DAWN BAKER. I bought it because Vade is most of The Blood Brothers pre-The Blood Brothers. I explained that I loved Vade and couldn't believe she had it, to which she responded, "I don't think I ever listened to that side. I had it for the JOUGH DAWN BAKER side." And now I know why she said that. Taking equal influences from early Botch in the metalcore department and Majority Rule from the emo/screamo crowd, they concocted a violent and scatching metallic/emo hardcore style that is closer to early Botch, Bleeding Kansas and Curl Up And Die than anything else, but definitely provides a unique twist on the formula.
There are four compilation tracks that were released before a self titled 7" and split 12". I think the earliest track we've got here is the 1996 'The Excursion Compilation''s "Bridgework", which is very emo/hardcore and reminds me of Portraits Of Past and Inkwell. In 1997 they released the amazing, violent and very screamo sounding "Muttonfist" on the unreal Botch, Nineironspitfire and Slowsidedown split' 7" called 'Brewing' as well as a Rage Against The Machine cover of "Freedom" which is titled "Five Twenty Four" aka the track's length. Judging by the sound of what we should aptly name "untitled", I would say it was recorded before or around the same time as the 'Vade split' 12", but with crustier and darker overtones, not unlike old PG.99 and and newer bands such as Lamantide and I Am Your Curse.
My favourite JOUGH DAWN BAKER release is, by just a narrow margin, the self titled 'Jough Dawn Baker' 7"EP that was released on Henry's Finest Recordings. I find this to be the perfect mix between the older, screamier emo and the metallic and dark hardcore found on the final two releases. Released in 1999, it was soon followed by the 'Vade split' 12" that was the catalyst for this post. The three songs contained on this wax/1000 are fantastic. The evolution to chaotic, dark, mathy and moshy hardcore is exemplified on the phenomenal "Boise Cascade". This thing is epic as fuck and reminds me of the mathy metalcore done in the 2000s by bands such as Llynch, Enkephalin, The Setup and The Minor Times. "Mannequin 2" is so fucking Majority Rule it's crazy, especially the final 30 seconds which could be rounded out by saying it sounds a lot like PG.99, too. "Let Off Some Steam, Bennitt" is still noteworthy as it includes some of the rawest screaming and a repeating breakdown that lowers itself like a circling vulture.
After researching for this post I came across the 2012 "release" of their unfinished LP via the Pungent Sound blog. Only some of the songs have vocals and obviously the thing is not complete, but the 9 songs are really good and showed where the band was headed. I have included it in the complete discography download located here and numerous other places in this post. This 'Unfinished LP', as we shall refer to it as, has the band careening off (gracefully, I should add) into uncharted waters with a fuckton of confidence, all of which is 100% warranted. The instrumental opener "Track 1" brings to mind instru-metal post-hardcore, while the next song sounds as if it was supposed to have some pretty heavy ass vocals and is reminiscent of the split 12" material. "Track 3" is my personal favourite, cuz...goddamn! That spiraling and evil bass riff attracts some additionally awkward guitar wails and blood curdling screams, with the entire thing coming off sounding like a very experimental and brooding Curl Up And Die. Tracks "4, 6, 7 and 9" are also instrumental and I truly wonder how many of them were supposed to be, if any. "Track 5" and "Track 8" also contain vocals, with the latter packing the most punch, as it drips with the darkness of a sludgy, subterranean stream. After another listen this final LP has a ton of Botch influence but considering the timeframe they were almost step for step with the seminal math-metal love of mine.
A forgotten gem? I'd say so.
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1996 - The Excursion Compilation cdLP (contributed "Bridgework")
1997 - Brewing 4-way split 7"EP (w/Botch, Nineironspitfire and Slowsidedown)
1997 - All About Friends compilation cdLP (contributed "Five Twenty Four")
???? - unknown comp (contributed "untitled/unknown")
1999 - Jough Dawn Baker 7"EP
1999 - Vade split 12"LP
1999? - unfinished/untitled LP
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(1999?) JOUGH DAWN BAKER - "3" (from 'unfinished LP')
(1999?) JOUGH DAWN BAKER - "8" (from 'unfinished LP')
(1999) JOUGH DAWN BAKER - "Tap Water Tuesday" (from 'Jough Dawn Baker')
(1999) JOUGH DAWN BAKER - "Spit Shine" (from 'Jough Dawn Baker')
(1999) JOUGH DAWN BAKER - "Boise Cascade" (from 'Vade' split)
(1999) JOUGH DAWN BAKER - "Mannequin 2" (from 'Vade' split)
(1997) JOUGH DAWN BAKER - "Muttonfist" (from 'Brewing' split)
(1997?) JOUGH DAWN BAKER - "untitled" (from '???')
(1997) JOUGH DAWN BAKER - "Five Twenty Four" (from 'All About Friends')
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JOUGH DAWN BAKER out of print mp3 discography download / additional links
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any idea where i can get the slowsidedown track from the brewing comp?
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing blast from the past. I lived in Bellingham, 1996-1999 and JDB were one of my favorite bands from there. My band Pacer played with them at least once, I think, and I got to know the guys a little bit. Wish I hadn't lost contact with them (I live in CO now), and really wish we had more music from them!
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