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Fun Fun Fun review: Floor

May 2012

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By Joe Gross | Sunday, November 7, 2010, 11:46 PM

Floor was an underknown quantity in their time. Put together in 1992 by singer/guitarist Steve Brooks (known these days for the band Torche) and bassist Anthony Vialon, the band recorded a lot, released singles and compilation tracks sporadically, and played DIY venues. There were different drummers and different lineups. Their first album appeared in 2001, their second, recorded in 1994, in 2004. This year, the label Robotic Empire released a Floor box set of ten LPs, eight CDs and a singles, comprising all of their recordings. Whew.

The Brooks, Vialon and drummer-Henry-Wilson interation of the band reunited to play some shows in support of the box set. This was a good call. Floor are a sludge band — the songs are slow-moving, often lumbering things with large riffs and extremely hard-hitting, very deliberate drumming.

But they are not just a sluge band. Brooks has a way with hooks, a talent he turned up to 11 in Torche, but was just starting to experiment with here. Sunday afternoon on the Black stage, the songs would lumber along and then, out of seemingly nowhere, a monster riff or a clear-eyed melody would emerge out of the muck. Brooks would bust out a huge grin (he may be the cheeriest man in metal) and play out the riff while Wilson would pound and crash specific arrangements, with cymbals muted at key moments and rhythms rolling along no faster than absolutely necessary. For some, this was a gig as thrilling as the Descendents. But much, much heavier. Sort of.

Photo by Tammy Perez FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN

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