The Tunnel "Shudder" LP

With stabs of growling bass, a discordant peal of guitar, and the robotic thump of a floortom, Shudder's title track launches into being, setting the stage for frontman JeffWagner's unmistakable voice – a sinister croon, caked in distortion and sleaze.Bearing traces of such pompadoured antiheroes as Nick Cave, Wagner's dark andtheatrical twang is offset by the band's mechanized throb. These two energies – thesultry noir and the cold machinery – grind against each other and create the sparks thatare The Tunnel.The glorious clash of styles can be depicted in many ways. A 2020 review from WhiteLight/White Heat saw it as a mix of "seedy primeval swampy muddy groove" and"industrialized noise racket" and dropped a flurry of names, from The BirthdayParty to Big Black.A line might also be drawn to a certain circle of '90s indie rockers – Girls AgainstBoys, Six Finger Satellite, and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion among them –whose noise rock assaults were laced to varying degrees with young-Elvis swagger,representing a similar marriage of heat and cool.To describe it in cinematic terms, it might be film noir and cyberpunk projected onto thesame screen. Indeed, the band counts directors like Lynch and Cronenberg amongstits greatest influences.In a review on his Head Heritage site, the great Julian Cope stated, simply, "Theseguys is motherfuckers, no less."Wagner puts it like this: "I see our music as a hot-wired transformer in a dead dark city.The dystopian future is now."Shudder is the prolific San Francisco band's seventh full-length album, amidst variousother EPs, splits, and tracks on comps. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by the banditself, Shudder is an absolutely perfect expression of its makers' well-honed vision. Overten tracks, the band – Wagner, flanked by bassist Sam Black and drummer MichaelJacobs – slinks and slithers from the shotgun shack to the dark alley and back again,evoking a fantasy where macabre backwoods gloom unites with dystopian urban decay.While some of the inspiration flows from the songs and films of the aforementionedartists, the band's hometown provided the rest."San Francisco is a shithole right now and I’m not super confident that it will everrecover," laments Black."I think the last few years’ apocalyptic vibe only sharpened our music’s sense of struggleand pleasure in the face of grim paranoia," says Wagner.Jacobs gives a more optimistic view: "I have lived here all my life and seen a lot ofchange. The musical history is undeniable. I am hopeful that the spirit still remains, butthe demographics have shifted. I am inspired to see clubs that I used to go to decadesago, rising from the dead, and it seems like a new DIY underground scene is emerging."The Tunnel will be performing at this year's Caterwaul Festival, May 27-30 inMinneapolis, alongside Cherubs, Whores., and dozens more. The fest is curated bynone other than Learning Curve Records owner Rainer Fronz. Stand by for news ofmore upcoming shows.Tracklist:1) Deathray2) Frontage3) Shudder4) Tungsten5) Hangman6) Subductress7) Racknid8) Daybreak9) Zealot10) UneasyLineup:Jeff Wagner - vocals, guitarSam Black - bassMichael Jacobs - drumsDiscography:Shudder - 2023, Learning Curve RecordsNoise for Change Equal Rights Amendment Benefit - 2022, Learning Curve RecordsA Growing Scarcity of Expectation Compilation - 2021, Destroy//ExistCondemned/Collapse EP - 2020, self-releasedShapeshifter - 2020, Forbidden Place RecordsThe Tunnel/Thought Leaders split - 2020, King of Sticks Recording CooperativeQuarantimes Vol. 2 Benefit - 2020, Learning Curve RecordsNightfall EP - 2019, self-releasedPlasma Den/Overland EP - 2017, Glorious AlchemicalSix Curses of the Blackout Witchcave - 2017, Glorious AlchemicalApparition Overdrive - 2015, Glorious AlchemicalSultry Daggers - 2012, Glorious AlchemicalFathoms Deep - 2011, Glorious AlchemicalCarver Brothers Lullaby - 2009, Glorious Alchemical