When we recently caught up with Cats and Cats and Cats, after wrapping up, they sent us a pretty casual message saying, “hey, our drummer is going to be in a new band coming out called AAA Gripper,” and of course, we were like, “awesome, we’ll keep our eyes out!” only to lose focus pretty fast.
But then a couple weeks went by (maybe they were months now that we think about it) and we heard the band’s first single, “The Arcade Claw King,” which stopped us dead in our tracks like a mechanical shadow man.
Arguably, the line “You were designed by idiots” would hit hard no matter how you say it, and it turns out it’s said by legit UK math rock royalty – along with Cx3, the band features members of Hey Colossus, Joeyfat and Sweet Williams. But names aside, AAA Gripper has dropped an album capable of easily demanding your attention, and then forcibly retaining it with an iron grip.
_
Not unlike the Mclusky‘s comeback last week, AAA Gripper isn’t just musically enjoyable – it’s narratively unnerving. Perhaps there’s more of an analog to bands like Chat Pile and Tunic than we realize, where the damning details of the mundane become the vivid chapters of a horror sequence, making monstrous noise along the way to match. It brings us back to an axiom we frequently fall back on as writers – “write what you know.” Generally speaking, in most endeavors, going from the gut and speaking your truth creates a secret sauce many are reluctant to reveal, yet it’s an approach that rarely goes unrewarded. AAA Gripper is Grade-A proof of this.
M. Edward Cole’s darkened drawl has a uniquely paced rhythm to it that almost make you think of the hilariously depraved visions of Viagara Boys, never straying too far from a mania that makes your skin crawl but always drawing you in to the point you can’t look away. But it also veers towards the deeply introspective post-punk projections of bands like Fake Pollocks and Denude.
Instrumentally, We Invented Work for The Common Good is a certified ripper as well, floating from distorted jazz and post-punk to speaker shredding noise rock, but always at a somewhat reserved dynamic. In fact, the consistencies are explained in a rather interesting way when you read the press release:
“AAA Gripper have seemingly dropped out of nowhere but the story goes back. The idea was conjured in the summer of 2023 at the first Wrong Speed Records festival in the town of Glastonbury. Inspired by a weekend of radical sounds and fine company a decision was made – ‘let’s try something’.
Recording hours and hours of bass and drums in deep Somerset then editing it down to a sharp and concise 32 minutes. From Can’s Lost Tapes boxset to No Means No’s 0+2=1 via a thousand song structure decisions. Wild guitar strafe and precise hyper vocal added. Nine tight tunes magically appeared. The band raised a glass of tea. The band was born. The ‘something’ had worked. We Invented Work For The Common Good is a deep dive into the world of the working person. How we end up. Why we climb onto the conveyer belt and never get off. The front cover is one of many of the same photo taken every day, on the walk to work, the dark mills looming – KEEP THEM BUSY, THEY WON’T RISE UP.
Music is therapy. They think it’s part of the bread and circuses. We know it’s armour. We know it’s weaponry.
That last part hits so hard. Be sure to check out the whole thing on Bandcamp here.
(Thanks for reading! If you’re looking for more music, check out our Bandcamp compilations here. If you like us, or possibly even love us, donations are always appreciated at the Buy Me A Coffee page here, but if you’re in a generous mood you can also donate to folks like Doctors Without Borders, the PCRF, Charity Water, Kindness Ranch, One Tail at A Time, Canopy Cat Rescue, or Best Friends Animal Sanctuary that could probably use it more – click on their names above to check ‘em out if you’re so inclined. Thanks again!)