The Orwells sound, look, and publish their image like Nirvana, but it is clear with Terrible Human Beings and previous records that they are more in some ways very melodically based. They do, however, play with culture and societal music the way grunge, Cobain and punk did.
Firstly, they rock without concern for their fan base, and the name, The Orwells, is interesting, because for any band to be political outright and cultural is a risk. The release opens in perfect style, it is raucous like all good punk, with the weird, cymbal, bell, and irony filled, “They Put a Body in the Bayou”.
Then, “Fry” sticks with the energy theme, though it is underwhelming in its success here, but the tracks that stick out like, “Creature” really do well, and show an advanced step up from some of their previous basic punk material. The fuzz in these songs gives a more vintage, ‘70s, classic rock feel, and the notes linger in the way they should for rock; in “Creatures”, they spout “No one can hear your message / They’re all on vacation.” The attitude continues in “Black Francis”, which really yells a Black Francis-like tone, as they claim to hate their own music, “Yeah, they think they’re hip”, they speak of themselves like he would, not this hasn’t been done before by others.
“M.A.D” is weird, but decent, and they sound more like Wand than indie contemporaries here. The thing is, they aren’t indie or metal, but they’re in the age of indie and metal or bust, so what’s an Orwell to do? They fill the American-punk hole this year, like an American version of The Fall, if The Fall were not anti-being popular. They continue to build on this with “Buddy”, which is Pixies-like.
This is a long release and deserves some press and a long detailed analysis, but picking out the most American-punk songs probably does it the most justice, The Orwells clearly want this, even if every song does not achieve it, so why not address it? “Hippie Soldier” is a bit too teenage angst about a returned soldier, but the guitar is good, and then “Heavy Head” definitely is the most punk thing here.
They end things with the next really good punk song, and probably the best song, ”Double Feature”, which has them mulling the ways of their punk lifestyle. As a whole, The Orwells do well in punk and are kind of necessary if not quite popular yet, but Terrible Human Beings is a really solid and good punk addition for their catalog. For most music fans, there is something worth hearing here just for the rock ‘n’ roll elements and energy.
