Undertow At Both Ends
- Format
12 Inch
Seattle Splatter or Glow-In-The-Dark Pink
£22.00
‘Falling into the same trap, so brittle and broken, one twist and I snap. Now I’ve burned the wicks at both ends, I’ve done it to myself all over again’ (At Both Ends)
Undertow were a hardcore band from Seattle. Although the band has made a handful of live appearances since, most recently at Indecision 30 in 2023, they were primarily active between 1990 and 1999, the year of their final show. Having released five EPs and splits in the early 1990s, the band recorded their sole length album, At Both Ends, in 1994. This album has now been given a welcome 30-year anniversary reissue and remastering by Indecision Records.
And have no doubt that At Both Ends is one of the defining albums of 1990s’ hardcore. Darkly foreboding, harshly metallic, Undertow forged a very different sound to many of their West Coast predecessors. Spryly bouncing bass lines and notably fluid drumming underpin the groove-laden guitar, hints of dissonant melody flaring throughout. Meanwhile, the rhythmically spat vocals explore the experiences of a young band forging an understanding of the world – a raw, honest exploration of their hopes and disappointments, of seeking to escape the stifling social constraints of tradition and religion.
Densely rhythmic, structurally fluid, At Both Ends is, perhaps, a reflection of a time when genre was less rigidly prioritised. Undertow already having shared a stage with bands as diverse as Poison Idea, Seaweed, The Accüsed, and Jawbreaker by the time it was recorded. It is also an album that continues to impressively stand the passing of time. From the swaggering fury of the title track to the utterly bruising Taken, by way of the brooding menace of Where Do We Go and the crushing closer Sink, its searing intensity is undimmed.
Members of Undertow went on to play in a myriad of (post) hardcore bands, including Ensign, Great Falls, Heiress, Himsa, Nineonspitfire, and Shift.