S.I.C. - Screaming In Churches (1988)Release ID: 56747
Melbourne crossover thrashers S.I.C. (or Screaming in Churches as they were also known) were yet another underground Australian act that I discovered shortly after I joined the local metal scene & started associating with older & more experienced metalheads. I believe I came into possession of a cassette that contained all three of their releases in their 1987 “Sick” demo, their 1988 “Screaming in Churches” E.P. & their 1989 “Spastics Inflicting Carnage” demo on the one side along with a bunch other Aussie crossover stuff on the other. I’ve recently sought out those two demos to see what they sound like in the modern day but I’ve been unable to find them anywhere online thus far so I’ve had to satisfy myself with the E.P. which I had some fairly foggy memories of enjoying when I was a kid.
Much like the two demos, the “Screaming in Churches” E.P. is a short burst of thrashing hardcore energy that includes eight fairly brief songs across just a thirteen-minute runtime. The band members co-produced it with a trio of external contributors including Vicious Circle front man Paul Lindsay, Reactor Records owner Phil MacDougall & Warwick Thomas who had worked with Lindsay on the last few Vicious Circle releases. The result of their efforts is a rough & ready record with all of the sharp edges having been left on in classic hardcore fashion. It sounds very live yet you can easily discern all of the instruments & it simply feels very appropriate for the content its attempting to showcase. The record would end up being released through Melbourne punk label Au Go Go Records which surprised me as they weren’t known as a metal label, instead making a name for themselves through more accessible artists like The Scientists, God, Spiderbait, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Magic Dirt & The Hellacopters.
S.I.C.’s sound was nothing new for the time & one gets the feeling that that wasn’t really the point either. They were a straight down the line crossover thrash band that closely emulated their US counterparts, particularly those who also went by initialist monikors like S.O.D., M.O.D. & D.R.I. There’s a similar sense of fun & not taking yourself too seriously here with the surf & skate themes that those bands often pushed being evident as well. Each song contains moments of sheer violence that work to offset the silliness & its those moments that make “Screaming in Churches” an enjoyable listen for someone like myself. I can do without all of the tongue-in-cheek bullshit & prefer a more serious approach to my metal so I’m thankful that S.I.C. obviously know how to thrash out with sheer hardcore aggression. Front man Luke may not be a technical wizard but he certainly knows how to spit out a compelling hardcore performance while his band mates (who interestingly included bassist Damian Gardiner who would later go on to experience significant local success with Victorian alternative rockers 28 Days) throw themselves into a series of lightning-fast thrash riffs.
The tracklisting kinda hovers over that line between mildly enjoyable & fairly disposable to be honest but the wins just manage to outweigh the losses which has left me with a generally positive taste in my mouth. As you may have gathered already, it’s the sillier moments that see my interest waning a bit with “Skatehead”, “Don’t Nag Me” & “Gadgetry” (complete with its rendition of the “Mr.Gadget” theme song) all leaving me fairly cold. Opener “Radiation”, “Brown Paper Bag Man”, the short hardcore blast that is “S.I.C.” & “Little Boy” are all pretty entertaining though & make up for S.I.C’s failings through uncompromising spurts of violence & vitriol.
Look, there are no doubt better crossover releases out there but I think there should be enough quality here to satisfy most fans of the subgenre, particularly those who have enjoyed a drunken laugh with their skater or surfer mates on occasion. Crossover thrash has never played a particularly major role in my listening habits but S.I.C. make a good fist of that sound here & are worthy of a few casual spins if you’re partial to that sort of thing.
For fans of S.O.D., Suicidal Tendencies & M.O.D.
