Let's play Contra! How an American stoner band released their album on a Ukrainian label

30.06.2017


Everyone knows how to write usual reviews. But we need a special approach for this particular event. It doesn’t happen every day that an American band releases their debut album on a Ukrainian label.  On July 1, Contra (contracleveland.bandcamp.com) released their first LP 'Deny Everything' on Robustfellow Production (robustfellow.bandcamp.com). We were fortunate enough to listen to the whole disc beforehand and talk with Filipp Dobrov aka PhillO))) – the main person behind the Robustfellow label. 
 
 
It’s “we” this time, because we decided to publish two versions of impressions from the music in one article. We, Alexander Poison Nechay and Yegor StillYDGN Feliust, decided not to become co-authors, since we didn’t want to invent the wheel. What matters is what you will hear in the album. There are some explanations of the experience gained from the new robust release below in the texts. And yes, we are proud of them!
 

Part І (Yegor StillYDGN Feliust)

Turn on the time machine, set the direction vector: *2014, Cleveland, Ohio*. We move to this relatively small town. The main question is: *Why?* Because this year, in this particular place, a band with a very unusual name *Contra* was born.

What is this name associated with? For people who lived in the 90's – of course, first of all, it associates with a great *shooter game*. Then maybe you’ll recall the colloquial name of Counter Strike and only then you’ll think about stoner-sludge men with a homonymous album.

As the musicians assure, their creativity was created under the influence of Black Sabbath, Minor Threat and The Obsessed. They also single out the music of the legendary Pentagram, Jucifer, Eyehategod, Iron Monkey and Acid King.

The LP is densely saturated with the proto-doom of the first albums from above mentioned Black Sabbath. After that, you can clearly hear DOWN, as if Phil Anselmo strained his voice pretty much back in the late 90's. Raw guitar solos from the NWOBHM times will be a cherry on the cake.

If you, the listener, are zealously fanatical about Crowbar, you have a musical spirit of Louisiana and the US south, the album ‘Deny Everything’ from Contra will come in handy. This is the perfect soundtrack for a pub soaked in a strong tobacco smoke, where after the show there may be a fight due to a few pints of beer drunk by the listeners.

For me, writing this review was a real challenge, as I'm not deeply familiar with the genre of sludge music, but still! This is the whole charm of my work: it’s about going out of your comfort zone. Perhaps, for this very reason, I thought that the album ‘Deny Everything’ was damp and boring. It would be utterly foolish to stick to my own speculation and reasoning, so I asked the comments of the man who cut his teeth on sludge – to Filipp Dobrov, the face and the embodiment of Robustfellow: 

 
 
Фил, если можно - откровенно, что именно тебя зацепило в этой команде? Объясни мне, человеку, который знает стиль не так глубоко, как ты. Считаешь ли ты, что сладж вот такого вот типажа вообще придётся по вкусу нашему слушателю? 
 

At first I caught on the text on Contra’s website, where they listed the bands where participants used to play: Sofa King Killer, Rue, Fistula, King Travolta, Abdullah...

Then there was the noise and listening of this great album over and over again, which didn’t make me bored for a whole year, but only got fixed in my car’s audio system and in the ancient mp3 player.

With each new listening, the aftertaste bouquet would become richer; with each new interview (it’s remarkable how creatively the guys approach communication with the media, trying not to repeat themselves, while answering the questions of various publications), I would reveal a separate universe with its roots, legends and history.

The band started with instrumental tracks, which by themselves sounded really good on the 3-song mini album ‘Son of a Beast’. Chris Chiera retained his recognizable guitar magic, which he successfully used, playing in SKK & Abdullah. The synchronized Aaron Brittain (ex-Fistula, ex-Rue, ex-King Travolta) and Adam Horwatt (So Long Albatross) responded for the rhythm section.

At some point, the puzzle took a proper shape and Larry Brent (ex-Hatchet Job, ex-Don Austin, ex-The Unholy Three, ex-Splinter) undertook the vocals. He’s a live legend of the local Ohio punk-hardcore scene and he became that very sharp cherry on the top of this multilayer pie.

As a result, we got a diverse album consisting of ten self-sufficient action hits, which together make up a very harmonious lump. ‘Deny Everything’ is a robust release that exists out of time. I'm sure that it will still be interesting in 5 and 10 years, just like it is now.

 
So our listeners have plenty of time to catch on and listen to the album in physical or digital formats, to pay attention to the details of the cover and watch the lyric-video. And when you see the announcement of the band at Robust Stage – be sure to take the ticket. Exclusive live energy does not know repetitions.
 
 

Part ІІ (Alexander Poison Nechay)

 

We haven’t seen a solid and dirty stoner/southern release from US for a while. I mean a really mature one – without clean, sugary vocals, but with greasy and muddy groans. Considering that this is an authentic product from the US, you know that it should have an unquestionable quality.

No matter what kind of thick sound you prefer, if you like fat guitars and southern grooves – you will like Contra. The band plays stoner/southern without compromise and unnecessary style mixes. Complete adherence to tradition, no steps in lyrical direction and jumps over the fence where neighbors listen to some minimal-techno. 

With Contra it is not only the name of the band that’s remarkable and sends us back in the time of 8-bit video-games, but also the fact that it’s a band from Ohio which comes out on a Ukrainian label – Robustfellow in 2017. And it makes us wonder, what’s a more significant reason to be proud of: American band to be released on the original and authentic label Robustfellow, or Ukrainians to release American stoner band?

 
 
 

Speaks and demonstrates the main man behind Robustfellow PhillO))):

 

A year ago, in July 2016, checking the mail, I opened one letter with the following text: "Greetings, I am Chris (guitarist) in CONTRA. We would like you to take a look at our demo. If you are interested, please get back to us." And then there were links to various pages of the band on the internet (Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Facebook, Website). A little later, on the same day, I got a detailed proposal to release the album on Robustfellow Prods. The spark ignited instantly and, with each new letter, the flame flared up stronger and stronger.

A link to the full album was also found on the band’s website. My next letter contained a request "to hide this artifact if you want to release the album properly". A few minutes later the link disappeared.

Quite quickly, we got an audio master recorded at high bitrate. Robustcrew didn’t have any complaints about the quality of recording and mixing.

Since then, the guys have been waiting patiently for the label to have the opportunity to realize their album. During this time, we could find one of Contra’s tracks on the final edition of Electric Funeral Café compilation (Vol.3 with 3CDs).

We needed to create an artwork for the album, so we offered the band to look at the creative work of the artists that we cooperate with. Our American comrades told us that they want to work with Viktor Absurd, because he totally suits them in terms of graphics, style and rendering. Viktor was enthusiastic about this offer and worked hard for few months to create an outstanding artwork for Contra’s “Deny Everything” album.

 
It’s remarkable that, ¾ of the work on this release was completed here in Ukraine. The first animated video for 'The Gorgon' was also created in Kiev by Lena Ushakova and it looked like an 8-bit video game. 
 
PhillO)))
 

Lena, just like Contra, just appeared in the “Inbox” folder and offered her services in terms of animation. She understood the concept right away and did a great job.  

Exclusive premiere of «The Gorgon» animated video took place at «No Clean Singing» and now all pixel-lovers and fans of the 8-bit graphics can enjoy it on YouTube. In the future we plan to show it, along with other works from our video-production, as a part of Robust Cinema on huge screens between the sets at Robust Stage.

 

By the way Contra aren’t the classic example of southern rock, because Ohio is situated on the north-east of the USA and it relates to Yankees. However, Contra managed to get that dirty sound and reach the necessary degree of density and severity, so they sound like real southern guys.   

The band was formed from the members of Killer, Rue и So Long Albatross, so this trio has a real stoner-sludge expertise.  

In 'Deny Everything' Contra offered completely different length of tracks. The shortest track 'The Gorgon' is 2:27, and the longest and doomiest is 'Shrimp Cocktail' which is more than 7 minutes. Stylistically, the album is also very diverse – from groove and high-voltage dynamics to doomy and slow parts.

 
 
 

Format in which 'Deny Everything' was released is a separate topic. It was released on CDs and tapes with original merchandise. Limited editions included 8-bit video game cartridges with a special gift from Robustfellow inside. The question that you should be asking yourself – were the hell did they get all these 8-bit cartridges in 2017?

PhillO)))
 

This is an interesting story to tell. Once I found out that the band name was inspired by the era of 8-bit games and that the band members also love different kinds of video-games, the concept came to me right away: gaming element should definitely be present in limited editions. When the time has come to create a prototype, I was looking for inspiration, but couldn’t find any 8-bit cartridges anywhere. So I asked my friend to buy some cartridges in a retro-shop on the other side of the city. 

The best cartridges in terms of form, color and size were Dandy cartridges. 

In order to get 33 pieces, I had to register on gaming forums but it gave no results. Eventually I found what I was looking for at one of the biggest Ukrainian Internet Marketplaces.  

I was sure that the tape should fit the case of the cartridge; however, less than 1 centimeter didn’t allow it to happen, so I had to think about the concept some more time.

A couple of sleepless nights and the prototype was improved: 5 exclusive pins that emphasized the aesthetics of the release were put on the thick cardboard that imitated a gaming scheme of old cartridges. Stickers on the cartridge are a bridge to the era of the 90’s when 8-bit video games were popular. Eventually the craft ribbon bound the two artifacts of the long forgotten days – 8-bit cartridge and tape, to form what became the limited edition of Contra’s ‘Deny Everything’.    

In order to get the exclusive stuff from inside the cartridge you need to recollect your childhood, carefully open the cartridge, get the scheme out to finally lay your hands on Contra’s patch and collection of pins.

 
According to the insider information, this stoner-product was called ‘a nice bastard’ within the Robustfcrew and it’s probably the most accurate definition of this release. Bastards musically, that don’t look like bastards themselves! 
 
For Ukraine and Robustfellow this release is a huge step in terms of expanding the reach. Although it’s not the first band from abroad that was released on Robustfellow, prior to this release the label’s relationships with foreign bands were episodic and with ‘Deny Everything’ they have really expanded horizons.
 
PhillO))) 
 

Although in the past we cooperated with foreign bands, Contra is the first full-fledged release with a foreign band on Robustfellow. Prior to this we released a live album for a Romanian psychedelic band Methadone Skies. It came as a part of ultra-limited edition series Robust Sessions 2011-2013 in a wooden box. 6 tapes were there and they included best live sets from the first three editions of Robustfest.

Finnish swampy sludge/doom Frogskin “II” was also released on the tape on our label. That’s an album with iconic sound and I think that it will get a vinyl release some day soon. 

Among the joint releases with other labels, I can mention an epic prog-opera from The Grand Astoria [SpB, RU] “The Mighty Few” CD , and noiserock/jazz trio ГРУНТ [Msk, RU].  ГРУНТ was our first vinyl experience. 

On the third edition of Electric Funeral Café compilation, we broadened our geographical reach and added some Robust Friendly Bands from abroad.

We don’t look for talented bands, because they’re closer to us than you can think of. In the right moment, right bands just appear to be on the arm’s length.

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