Nuclear Daisies
First Taste of Heaven
PORTRAYAL OF GUILT

Despite what bloodthirsty military brass may suggest, the wars of the 20th century didn’t always end simply because one side of the battle claimed a substantially greater number of casualties compared to their opponent. With the advent of reporters accompanying soldiers carrying newfangled single-lens cameras as their only weapon, the image could radically change public sentiment against international conflict. Case in point is a seemingly demoralized World War II US soldier receiving, though barbed wire, a flower from a child whose home country would be blasted into near oblivion when Americans dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan.

Just as a picture says a thousand words, so, too, does music—even if the lyrics that accompany it are barely decipherable. “I’m so tired of the sunshine / When we touch, we feel alive / Got me thinking I’m on my outside,” Nuclear Daisies’ Alex Gehring sings on their new album’s second track, “Dandelion Wine.” The rest of First Taste of Heaven isn’t exactly macabre, as it’s chock full of club-ready breakbeats and unrelenting experimentation (or, arguably, exploitation) of guitar, synth, and bass. However, Nuclear Daisies never strike an all-out gleeful tone, either, as if they’re unable to forget that the band’s main theme is that of the post-apocalypse.

The Austin trio utilize further measures to restrain listeners from getting sucked into the muck of negativity and hopelessness that underpins the band’s message, which becomes transparent when one takes the time to carefully examine the band’s oeuvre. One sleight of hand that Nuclear Daisies conduct is permitting Rob Glynn and Robert Williams to raise the decibel levels on their guitar, synth, and bass so high that it effectively blocks the listener from experiencing any downtime during which they might contemplate, for example, the meaning of the death-themed song “Body Turns Blue.”

Capping it off, Nuclear Daisies lasso in two more guitarists and a drummer to achieve maximum intensity throughout First Taste of Heaven. The resulting sound certainly isn’t minimalistic by any stretch of the imagination; but at its pit-of-the-stomach core, the record does serve as a deafening clarion call for all of us to get our act together before we bring down this wild enterprise known as “humanity.” It’s no wonder that the even bleaker, ear-splitting black-metal band Portrayal of Guilt now count two Nuclear Daisies records among the 21 they’ve issued so far through their label of the same name. As the saying goes, keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and those who believe the world is about to end closest of all.

FLOOD

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Nuclear Daisies, First Taste of Heaven

Jeff Miller

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