Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

USSA

The Spoils

Label: Release Date: 14/04/2008

36294
ben_patashnik by ben_patashnik April 25th, 2008

Take one of the guys from Ministry and one of the guys from The Jesus Lizard, and what do you get? Industrial shoegaze indie? Metallic soundscapes topped off with a smattering of cod-psychedelia? No, you get Ussa, a one-trick pony already on its way to the knacker’s yard, handicapped by a terminal lack of invention and an unwillingness to do much more than phone in a paranoid, seemingly incomplete album.

The Spoils is, sadly, almost entirely devoid of merit. While Paul Barker (him from Ministry)’s basslines do add a tangible sense of menace throughout the album, the fact that their rumble seems to be repeated almost ad nauseum utterly negates their impact. And while Duane Denison (him from The Jesus Lizard) tries to add a touch of colour here and there – and, on ‘Middletown’, almost succeeds – songs are very rarely anything other than a single idea stretched out almost interminably. ‘Autumn Flowers’ is a collection of lazy lyrics drawled over the soundtrack to a fight scene from some god-awful cybergoth movie, ‘Dead Voices’ sounds like it was designed to be listened to by a kid in his bedroom just before he shoots up his school and the less said about the awful, awful ‘Peculiar Things’ the better.

A decade ago Trent Reznor was not only doing this sort of thing far more successfully but was imbuing his music with unique touches of inspiration here and there – The Spoils is a cynical, criminally uninventive record that feels incredibly dated. You’d expect two stalwarts of the music scene to have had the nous to realise that a 50-minute, 11-track album needs to have at least a few discerning moments spread throughout, rather a single overarching sound and theme. But no – listening to it on shuffle is exactly the same as in order, and even picking out moments to discuss in order to quantifiably say why it’s so bad is actually rather difficult. But it is very, very bad.

  • 2
    's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees


  • A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash



Left-arrow

Frank Turner

Love Ire & Song

Mobback
35967
36453

Bilge Pump

Rupert The Sky

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143
  • news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141

    news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139
  • Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138

    Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137
  • Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136

    Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
  • Festival Review


    25 years of SPOT Festival: DiS Picks Its Best 11

  • 106134
MORE


    Interview


    Interview: Bjork talks piracy, punk, Lady Gaga ...

  • 79700
  • review


    Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence

  • 95999

    Interview


    With Nile and I: DiS meets Nile Rodgers

  • 98023
  • review


    Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions

  • 55003

    news


    The DiS Community's... 101 Favourite Albums

  • 85886
  • feature


    Panic Prevention: At the drink with Jamie T

  • 14183

    Staff-generated


    Reviewed: Shut Up And Play the Hits a documenta...

  • 83336
  • feature


    New Emo Goth Danger? My Chemical Romance confro...

  • 89578
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2023 DROWNED IN SOUND