DDDD - Frustration Music (Love Earth Music)

In many ways, DDDD is a harsh noise supergroup comprised of three veterans of the Los Angeles underground noise scene. The project seems to be led by Ed Nervo, who was in NYC’s Final Solution, as well as a number of projects in LA, most notably Destroy Date, Home Audience, Caveat Emptor, Eckankore and +DOG+. David Lucien Matheke runs Love Torture Records and is the twisted mind behind Endometrium Cuntplow and Steven Standish Davis is the Steve Davis behind +DOG+ and Love Earth Music. Rather than being a mere side-project, though, DDDD has its own sonic style that establishes the group as a separate entity.

The opening title track sets the mood right away with a female voice on an answering machine. She could be an old flame – the one that got away – or a recent girlfriend who is moving on with her life. At one point she sadly says, “Happiness is important. I want that for you…”

Thus the frustration begins and continues over four 10-15 minute soundscapes that exude negativity and deep, dark depression. The recording is lo-fi and concentrates more on low-end frequencies. The third track, “Loss Aversion,” is particularly effective in that it introduces a keyboard-sounding element that joins the other noise and builds to violence near the end.

Frustration Music is a trip through dark emotions and negative energy. It’s not feel-good music or happy songs with pop hooks that make you want to sing along. It’s the sound of fists clenched in loneliness and despair. And if you’ve ever been there, you’ll feel it, too.