Nashville post-hardcore veterans turn modern frustration into serrated guitars, crushing rhythms and traded vocals on the first taste of forthcoming debut EP Burth.
Nashville’s Yammer Jaw has arrived with “Cuckin’ ’Round,” a caustic first single that introduces the quartet ahead of its debut EP, Burth, due September 18.
Featuring members of Waxed, Sheep Shifter and War Brides, Yammer Jaw channels the pressure cooker of modern life into abrasive post-hardcore with metalcore muscle. Guitarists Chris Clark and Stephen Small first played together in Sheep Shifter before reconnecting in 2023, eventually recruiting drummer Richie Townsend and Waxed bassist Ian Sundstrum to complete the lineup.
“Cuckin’ ’Round” makes their intentions immediately clear. Jagged guitars scrape against a hulking rhythm section while Clark, Small and Sundstrum trade vocals, giving the track the feeling of an argument erupting from several corners of the room at once. The song targets the instinct to immediately submit to authority, particularly the sudden flattery and conformity that can surface when someone powerful enters the picture.
That confrontation fits naturally within Burth, an EP concerned with political division, mental health, social media dependency, wealth inequality and the exhaustion of navigating contemporary life. Musically, Yammer Jaw draws from the tension of Fugazi, angularity of Drive Like Jehu and Faraquet, low-end force of Quicksand and The Jesus Lizard and heavier hardcore influences, but the band leaves enough room for unexpected turns and flashes of rock swagger.
The forthcoming EP was engineered and mixed by Shibby Poole and mastered and etched by Dan Emery at Black Matter. Physical editions are available on vinyl, CD and cassette, including a limited run of 100 translucent purple records.
Yammer Jaw will celebrate Burth with a hometown release show alongside Iron Lung at DRKMTTR in Nashville on September 22. If “Cuckin’ ’Round” is the opening salvo, subtlety clearly isn’t part of the assignment.
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