Throwing Up - Over You

Throwing up, particularly in consequence of alcohol consumption, is a horrendous experience. You use every ounce of strength to fight it off, yet it eventually forces its way out. You spend the next 20 minutes or so writhing and retching on the floor, praying for a swift and painless death. And then, without warning, it stops. The world is good again, life is joyous. Rinse your mouth out. Let’s do some more shots. Well, Throwing Up’s debut LP, ‘Over You’, may just be the musical equivalent of alcohol-induced vomiting; 11 quick blasts of messy, twisted post-grunge punk that challenge and violate the senses, but leave you feeling all the better for it.

Roughly three years in the making, this album has been a long time coming, too. Formed back in 2010 from the ashes of all-girl post hardcore outfit ‘Headless’, singer Camille Bennett and bassist Clare James Clare recruited the reckless drumming talents of Ben Rayner and went on to release singles ‘Toothache’, ‘Mother Knows Best’ and ‘Big Love’ through various one-off labels and self releases, all of which make an appearance on ‘Over You’.

And they’re all totally ace. Raucous, raw and littered with mistakes, they encompass the band’s carefree catchiness at its finest. Which may well stem from recording the album at their good friend Rory Atwell’s (ex-Test Icicles; the kings of ‘don’t give a shit’-ness) London studio. Not that you can tell a studio was involved. There’s no snazzy production techniques going on here. There’s barely an effects pedal in sight. A touch of vocal reverb from the hands of Tim Burgess (head of their new label home, O Genesis) is all that’s required. And it all works perfectly. ‘Mother Knows Best’ has a chorus that Veruca Salt would be envious of, while ‘Big Love’ is a two minute Ramones-aping sloppy punk gem. The levels of messiness on display do tread oh-so-carefully between DIY-punk ethics and fourteen-year old battle of the bands runners up at times, but Camille Bennett’s lethargic and strangely alluring vocals possess a unique quality that save their songs from going over the edge when they dangerously teeter on the brink of disaster.

There are some genuinely surprising moments too, particularly in their ability to balance all the balls-out madness with a few more delicate - in the most vague sense of the word - numbers. ‘Gone Again’ and ‘Snake’ provide some well-timed relief from the fast-paced onslaught of the rest of the album, the latter’s catchy riff-ery and sensitive vocals possibly proving to be the unexpected highlight.

Though at times challenging and downright reckless, ‘Over You’ never loses sight of its goal, always ensuring each song is packed with passion, energy and irritatingly addictive hooks. It chews up and spits out the bland, colour-by-numbers music industry rule book, regurgitating it in its rawest, nastiest form. You may struggle to get through it at first, but once you have, you’ll want to head straight back in for more.