Are the ’90s played out yet? If you ask the metal world,¹ or rather, the metal-leaning world of -cored and rocky sounds, we’re just getting started in the retro movement of three-decades past explorations. From the dreamy prog-leaning radioscapes of Lizzard to The Jesus Lizard-drenched grinding lurch of Full of Hell to the nostalgic Deftones-alt-castings of Bleed, the ’90s finds itself emblazoned in cut-n-scanned posters across guitar-led machinations in our current age. In a guise more Hole-y and riot grrrl, Michigan’s Tonguecutter wears close that AmRep, early Melvins, Unsane-y aesthetic with their quick-n-dirty debut Minnow. But is Minnow enough in the pond of competition growing deeper by the day?

With short-form, snakey Quicksand grooves and a ‘tude set to Courtney Love covering Facelift,² Tonguecutter certainly thinks their debut splash serves more than just an upstart homage. Though not quite the polyrhythmic doom-lurch of Confessor or the demented grunge-sludge of Acid Bath, Minnow stirs in waters informed by the same ideas of stuttering low-end grooves and sassy, alt-coded diatribes. With punky odes to bodily autonomy (“Big Ol’ Tree”) and tongue-out anthems to perseverance (“Do You Play Leads, “Bitch Ass Energy”), it’s clear that Tonguecutter prizes the clarity of a sneering message over a technically indulgent plot. And though a little time signature trickery adds a jaunty bounce to many a number, Minnow never feels caught in the weeds of calculus-minded sleights of riff.

However, Tonguecutter holds tight the importance of narrative without searching for diversity in play, ringing stale in a tale as old as punk. For most of the intros, at least, Tonguecutter finds a strong enough footing to churn a wanting pit, with fervent d-beat runs (“Dust Collector,” “Big Ol’ Tree”) and bellowing floor tom struts (“Do You Play Leads,” “Antipode”) following a hefty bass pulse to curled and cawing choruses. But in many scenarios, these repetition-anchored refrains die on the vine of a bridge that does little to flip the riff in an interesting way. Neither embracing the brutality of a hardcore breakdown nor wankery of a metallic shredfest,³ just about every track comes to a tepid—if fun in spirit—cross of the finish that leaves Minnow feeling brief in an unfulfilling manner.

In part, and with some success, Tonguecutter does look to create a rich tonal tapestry to accentuate their low-frills attack. In sludgey and noisy waters, like those you might hear in a driving Thou or swinging Couch Slut piece, leaning on amp booming or mic frying tone hammers sits integral to the music’s intensity. Minnow may not stir quite in that stream, humming about more of a Petrol Girls lean fighting aura, but a rattling bass (“Urgency,” “Do You Play Leads) and a bluesy guitar crush (“Bitch Ass Energy,” “Yarn Horse”) take center stage alongside Chantal Roeske’s defiant tirades at the album’s finest bursts. Again, though, an adherence to the simple groove of each number keeps any one track from escaping the “now playing” screen into my wanting memory. Well, except for the guest flute solo on “RATAP,” anyway—you can take the boy out of prog but not the prog out of the boy.⁴

When I encounter acts like Tonguecutter, acts who promise brutal brevity and math-timed malediction, I hope to be tossed around with frightening and enlightening precision. The world can be a deeply frustrating place, and I want to get close to feeling the passion stowed away in vocalist Roeske’s pen—this gal’s got heart and riffs. Yet, Minnow, for as exacting as its efforts ring, skirts around these mission statements with a timid toeing about their extreme nature. And while it’s true that Tonguecutter hasn’t set out to become a new darling of dissobros lurking about the niche realms of inaccessible metal strongholds, whatever comes after Minnow will have to swim a little bigger with abrasiveness or catchiness to find where it does belong in the modern scene.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Learning Curve Records
Websites: tonguecutter.com | tonguecutter.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: May 8th, 2025

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