“I mean this as a compliment: that's the ugliest Jawbreaker cover that's ever going to be recorded. It's going to bum a lot of people out.
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Justin Schwier, Owner Underground Communiqué Records
“Volunteer play noise rock so well on this recording that this could of easily been released in the early 90's and they ignore all modern day trends with their musical style. The production has a very dark, heavy and old school sound to it while the lyrics cover dark and real life themes. In my opinion, Volunteer are a very great sounding noise rock band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this 10 inch. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Nein" and "Goner". 8/10
”
Extreme Underground Musick Zine
“The Jawbreaker cover that Volunteer does on the Goner 10" is superb.
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Matt Hinch, @KingdomofNoise
“Gnarly sludgecore
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Matt Hinch, @KingdomofNoise
“HEAVY. Dug it!
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Adam Pfahler, Jawbreaker / Blackball Records
“If you wanna get ear-fucked by a Trojan army of sound, then Milwaukee’s Volunteer is here to help. ...with bass lines that will punch you in the face like the schoolyard bully. The drums are so convincingly machine gun-sounding they’d make a war vet duck and cover. The lyrics are also politically precise enough to make Ian MacKaye’s bald head blush.
”
DC Music Download blog
“Opener “Nein” scuffs up the punch-press precision of Helmet, while the appropriately titled “Free-er Bird” soars above its own bass-chugging din before tumbling back into it. “Goner” is the EP’s heaviest track, featuring flailing drums, pissed-off vocals, and distorted spoken passages that sound like the final warnings before the apocalypse.
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Matt Wild, MilwaukeeRecord.com
“...singer Francisco Ramirez’s voice even reminds me a bit of great Lemmy Kilmister’s raspy sound... See, I really want to like them. They seem like a fun group of old-ish fellas and they do produce good music. But somehow the album disagrees with me. I struggle to get through it. It’s just kind of boring for me. The album is by no means bad. Volunteer just doesn’t do it for me. But if you happen to like this type of noise rock, I urge you to check them out. 7/10
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Miguel Sanchez, Vendetta Metal Magazine
“Consisting of four tracks which are heavier than, and delivered with the suffocating intensity of a landslide, the band’s new EP is a richly satisfying and enjoyable onslaught... Goner is a healthy consumption of noise and skilled resourcefulness which fans of band such as Melvins, Unsane, and Jesus Lizard will lick their lips over. It might not be a template maker or soaked in overwhelming originality but it provides a deeply enjoyable and flavoursome encounter to get greedy over and another potential fueled powerful step in the emergence of Volunteer.
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RingMasterReviewIntroduces.com
“One can actually hear a lot of sludge and scabrous, crusty punk within the gut-punching riffs and we're-not-singers vocals. (My words, not theirs.) It's no-frills heavy music that pays its dues with honesty and gnarly riffs. Listen closely for shades of Melvins and early Nirvana. Three tracks of noisy, caustic, in-your-face beatdowns. Then they down a bottle of codeine syrup and cover Jawbreaker's “I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both," and it's fantastic. 3.5 out of 5
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Matt Hinch, heavymetal.about.com
“So this slab elbows and knees you in the gut to take you down, then crushes your limp ass like a hydraulic press. And then each of the 4 songs acts as torpedo strikes to destroy and finish off the rest of you. The bits and pieces that remain of your sad self, will know you went out getting the best ass-kicking you've ever had!
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Staticfraction
“It’s a refreshing change to see a band of this style more openly experimenting with instruments, rather than relying on the vocals for artistic expression... It’s a twisted, beautiful monolith of a record.
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David Lack, GetYourRockOut.co.uk
“It’s got the obvious chugs, the throaty vocals and down-tuned blues melodies all over the place. It sounds decent, a little rough at times but definitely something that wasn’t a big budget production, as it feels like real “salt of the earth” music. 6/10
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The Grim Tower
“...songs such as “Free-er Bird,” along with the band’s deconstruction of “I Love You So Much It’s Killing Us Both,” show that Volunteer is willing to experiment and move outside of the confining yet comfortable boundaries commonly associated with underground music.
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Michael Carriere, ExpressMilwaukee.com
“Volunteer has found a way to tap into the essence of sonic control and produce something that in four songs many bands could not do in 10.
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Andrew Duncan, selectivememorymag.com
“Most bands who say they sound like The Jesus Lizard sound like they’re covering lost demo tapes of The Jesus Lizard, but on Goner, ...the Milwaukee trio bear little resemblance to the David Yow-fronted outfit, instead dealing a punishing 15 minute collection of defiant, unsubtle and powerful noise rock anthems.
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Matthew Tomich, lifeisnoise.com
“Rough-and-tumble, yet melodic, punk from this Milwaukee band. Sometimes, these guys have a JESUS LIZARD feel going on, but then it's like we're listening to a FLOOR record & then the record closes with a JAWBREAKER cover ("I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both"). RECOMMENDED!
”
Reckless Records, Chicago
“I hate to be so predictable, but this EP from a Midwest noisecore trio, which also features a cover of Jawbreaker's "I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both" is something I enjoy very much. I mean, what do you want from me by now? It's a bass-heavy, pigfucking racket that hasn't seen an ounce of polish, and makes you feel queasy for the entire ride. And it's not my fault that bands like this are the ones who send me records. When you neofolk power metal guys start pressing vinyl again, just let me know.
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Shane Mehling – "Needle Exchange"; Decibel Magazine, #124 February 2015
“Four songs (one is a cover) that go rumbling past akin to a runaway freight train. The ep opens on an Unsane kind of note, lots of distortion on the bass guitar, and a very tight and punchy volley of riffs that could have easily been on whatever Chris Spencer's next project might be (sans slide guitar). The second song eases into a sludgier groove that has that JJ Paradise Players Club stink on it. It's got a laid back heaviness, but nothing "stoner" about it. Know what I mean? The title track comes along with more swinging speed and a penchant for some vaguely Deadguy via Helmet post hardcore bombast. Not unlike a saber tooth tiger emerging from the Labrea Tarpits...covered in primordial ooze, but those fangs are still as dangerous as ever. The final effort on this record is a cover of the Jawbreaker song 'I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both', which, as a person with a longstanding dislike of all things Jawbreaker, I can't really comment on Volunteer's ability to stay true to the spirit of the original or anything. I know Jawbreaker never sounded like they were mainlining Codeine and delivering the song from two rooms away under a blanket of summer humidity, but that seems to be Volunteer's take on it.
The band has a former member of Forstella Ford, which should get you pretty good trivia points at your next 1998 basement hardcore show. If you have the propensity for time travel that is.
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[shiny grey monotone] Blog
“Everything about Volunteer is warmly, crushingly distorted, especially the bass and what bass! These 4 tracks by the Milwaukee band are exactly how stoner / sludge is supposed to be. Great.
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Chris, 4ZZZ Music Department
“have you ever found yourself wanting unsane to cover jawbreaker? well. this is probably as close as you're going to get unless unsane actually cover jawbreaker.
it's good to have bands nowadays that aren't unsane sounding like unsane. and that's just what these fellas from milwaukee, wi do. and they do it very well.
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[shiny grey monotone] Blog
“And Volunteer shows the very next drive, the 10 '' Goner . From the bass attack Nein, the trio takes us right in New York in pursuit of Unsane. The influence is present but Volunteer puts brute force and persuasion to torturers waltz heads. Always recorded by bassist, the four titles still flying very low above the water line but that does not stop the scramble. Driven by growling voice and spoken to half of Francisco Ramirez, the songs are buckling prison doors. It's heavy, rugged, bassist put their heart's content in the distortion of his instrument that chips away in a big way, the Volunteer bomber is ready to dump large caliber. Even the recovery I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both password Jawbreaker in the mode chopper Volunteer. The romance of the title will revert. Volunteer bangs, crashes, hacks and adds speed to scare more. And shows that he was on the right path.
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SKX, Perte & Fracas
