Album Reviews: Crisis Arm- Caterwaul and Machinefabriek & Banabila- Travelog


Crisis Arm happened on my radar thanks to Family Time Records, and more specifically, my recent acquisition of the 4-way split 7”that I wrote a piece on last week. I saw the word “shoegaze” in the write up about their new cassette, Caterwaul, and from there I was like, “oh damn I need to cop this right away.”

Blending elements of shoegaze (obviously), fuzzed out pop, experimentalism, and sloppy, abrasive post-punk, Caterwaul is an incredibly impressive full-length release, although all of the genre-bending causes it to be a tad uneven at times.

The heavy fuzz that runs throughout the course of the album is very reminiscent of the DIY Canadian noise-pop outfit Tearjerker. Frontwoman Cameron Puleo’s vocals are obviously pushed down low in the mix, delivered in a ghostly monotone that adds a layer of intrigue and mystery. While some songs are a little inaccessible to a casual listen, there are still flickers of pop sensibility—primarily on the first side, with “Follow” and “Late.”



Crisis arm is still a relatively young band—Caterwaul is their first full length, following the Junk Drawer EP from last year. They’ve grown quite a bit since then—sculpting the pretty singularly heavy post-punk sound into what you hear now. Hopefully as a band they aren’t finished growing—this cassette shows a lot of potential.

Caterwaul is available now as a limited edition cassette via Family Time, or as a digital download from the band.




When I saw that the opening track was called “Spin ‘n Puke,” I knew I was in for a good time.

I believe this is the third time I’ve repped Machinefabriek on the blog—the project of Netherland’s based artist Rutger Zuydervelt. Rutger holla’d at me personally very early on in the year and asked if I’d take a listen to the self-titled collaborative release between himself and like-minded artist Michel Banabila—the result, an interesting, exquisite corpse structured sound collage through the deepest regions of experimental/drone music.

Much to my surprise, I got an email a while back with information about another Machinefabriek & Banabila collaborative joint—Travelog.

The press release for Travelog indicates that it’s lighter and even “playful” in comparison to their previous effort. Once “Spin ‘n Puke” gets going—you’ll agree. The rhythmic world-influenced percussion and handclaps can hypnotize you while synth tones and various other glitches swirl in over the top of everything else.


Don’t be fooled into thinking that Travelog is more “listener friendly.” There are plenty of moments of harsh noise and ambience; it’s just that a bulk of this material leans more towards sounding like it was at least partially constructed beforehand, rather than an improvisation. The incredible urgency of a track like “Runner” is a great example of how that kind of execution succeeds.

Electronic music is the kind of field that has no boundaries—you can use technology to move people to a dope beat, or to scare the ever-loving shit out them with horrifying sounds. Travelog walks the fine line between those two extremes, and it continues to show that the collaborative partnership between Michel Banabila and Rutger Zuydervelt has no shortage of ideas.