Suicide Reviews

Suicide’s self-titled first album, from the vantage point of 2009 when I first heard it, sounds so hugely influential that it's hard to believe there was ever a time that this was looked at curiously. The synth-punk/dark electro-alternative rock of the entire affair sounds exactly like something straight off the radio. Where would Nine Inch Nails be without the dark drum-and-synth notes of “Ghost Rider”?

It’s amazing to hear how many different and contradictory genres and influences crop-up in their ominous minimalism. “Johnny” sounds like a long lost rockabilly Sun single gone techno. “Cheree,” in both the normal and remixed versions, has a simple almost Stooges-like drum beat, but sounds more pop-orientated than anything The Stooges ever turned out. “Rocket U.S.A.” has the chilling nihilism of anything the punk era ever cooked up, but it’s given a synth-pop sheen that wouldn’t become the norm in New Wave/punk until about six or seven years later.

But nothing can prepare you for the Velvet Underground-esque noise-rock assault of “Frank Teardrop.” In the horrify story about a man who goes insane under the soul-crushing banality of suburban American life, Suicide practically invents the industrial rock genre. The drum-loops and synthesizers sound unsettling before Alan Vega starts his almost primal scream therapy-like wails, yelps and moans. His screaming was a rhythmic device on the album. The first time I listened to this album – at roughly two in the morning – I was freaked out and totally scared by the ten-and-a-half minute opus that I wanted to run for cover from it. I do not recommend others to discover this track in that way.

This is one of my favorite records – from the street art/graffiti looking album artwork to the last dark moment of the synths and drum programming – and I can’t believe just how often I have heard new bands sound exactly like this. Case in point, She Wants Revenge must have listened to this record on repeat before recording anything of theirs. DOWNLOAD: “Frankie Teardrop”