In times like these, I too grow tired of the kumbayah and the “let's come together.” Sometimes queer pride doesn't hit the same as queer rage, and thus Artio have become an important band in this decade of alternative rock. Fronted by the small but mighty Rae Brazill, the Loiner quartet went TikTok viral for songs like “Product Of My Own Design” from their Pyrokid EP, and their debut album Babyface was a realized concept album that satisfied without overstaying its welcome. For their sophomore effort, now under LAB Records, the band bring Soul Rot, which starts off like a battering ram with the line “Wise up, or get fucked.” The titular interlude comes after, making the first song “The Devil You Know” that much more impactful, breaking the door down from the time the listener pushes “play.” If Babyface was defiance, Soul Rot comes off as full-blown rage. To hell with platitudes and letting things play out, they're pissed off and you will know why.
No matter how low the guitars go or how aggressive the instrumentation as a whole gets, Brazill's vocals are soaring above the mix. Call them Jack Black, cuz they absolutely don't need a microphone, their voice is fuckin’ (fuckin’) powerful. Their range is something to behold, be it in the quieter moments of the acoustic “O Negative” or the closer “Room Tone,” but in those and any other case across the full album, Brazill only knows how to full send, and the end result is better for it. Aside from the vocal abilities of Brazill, the rest of the band helps to make Soul Rot a dynamic piece of music. No two tracks quite sound the same, with the industrial vibes and thumping kicks of “Seven Suns” or the pop-punk-leaning “Full On Fight For Fun,” or even the beat poetry of “Death Stems.” This is an album that is greater than the sum of its parts, yes, but those parts individually are great as well, with something on offer for everyone across the fourteen tracks within. Artio may very well have broken the dreaded sophomore slump, developing their own sound while evolving around it. Two albums and a few EPs in, this band is really only just getting started, but if they're already this accomplished this early, we're in for a treat with whatever comes next. For now, we can let this be a void, filled with sarcasm, exasperation, and a refusal to give in. This is “death before detransition” in a rock record, this is “fuck your closet” in fourteen songs, and it is something we so desperately need in this era of Starmers and Trumps and all of their ilk. Soul Rot is available now via LAB Records.
