The Warmers
The Warmers

In February 1996, a certain Mr. Ian MacKaye (Founder and owner of Dischord, father of the Straight Edge philosophy and singer of Minor Threat and Fugazi, just to be clear…) took it upon himself to sit his lean butt behind the mixing console at Inner Ear Studio in Washington DC to oversee the production of “The Warmers”, the first full-length release of the American trio of the same name. Given these premises, the easiest mistake would be to dismiss the 14 tracks it comprises as just another "Hard Core style" product, something that, as has often happened in the past, neither adds nor detracts anything from the rather static musical formula from across the ocean. What emerges is actually one of the best "heavy" products of the '90s, and surely it is precisely due to its ability not to get lost behind usual clichés and not to concede anything to the trends of the moment. To this end, just consider the musical and personal qualities of the trio, not exactly common, and the decidedly raw approach of the recording… a true hymn to realism.

Already the opening track, “Snakecharmer,” testifies to the aforementioned - tribal rhythm and sly riffs provide the backdrop for the raw voice constantly balancing between shouts and melody of Alec MacKaye (coincidentally… guitar and voice), and so the splendid and twisted “Iwaay”, “No One Like Me”, and “Thin Air” where the structural importance of Miss Amy Farina's drums is evident, one of the few virtuosos of the instrument capable even of sliding into pure showmanship without losing an ounce of charm (musical, of course). Right alongside are the splendid “The Lowdown” and “Chuck Your Brains Out”, but here we're already in Hard Core territory, or “soft” episodes like “Your Great Escape,” which winks at other sound horizons… and so on.

“The Warmers” is in short one of those records for which every track deserves much more than the two skimpy lines given here, and certainly more than just a simple listen. Moreover, considering that almost ten years later it hasn't lost any weight or freshness or its ability to draw even those not passionate about the genre to the tricky terrain of Hard Core. Translated into food: a nice sandwich with spicy vegetables accompanied by a very fresh tomato juice, my dear.