Media

Salem: "Frost" (MP3)

4:43 p.m. · September 22, 2009 · by Matthew Richardson

"Frost" is the new 7-inch release from Chicago/Michigan/New York crunkwave act Salem. The group's only fault to this point seems to be that a lot of their songs seem to do the same things; beats appropriated from southern rap buried in ambient, gothic synths, and reverbed vocals buried under all of that. With "Frost," as if to flip the bird to anyone who might have noticed that chink in their armor, they've simply turned up all of those elements: the beats bang harder, the ambience dominates, and it's entirely possible to hear what vocalist Heather is singing at all. That might seem lazy, but in the war between attitude and technique, attitude will outshine almost every time. [Discobelle]