To be honest we hardly know a damn thing about Aux Blood except they’ve put out some cool songs lately (that’s enough!) plus they have a cool name that that makes us think of plugging in digital peripherals (auxiliary ports a.k.a. aux ports) directly into one’s body and bloodstream and Aux Blood most definitely make music to get jacked up to and jacked up by…
…music described on the band’s own Bandcamp as “hardcore shoegaze noise” so that’s a whole spectrum of noise right there with a cryptic addendum that “collaboration is essential” and they do have as knack for sounding doom-laden/depressed one minute and enraged/infuriated the next in a seeming bid to be deemed the Auguste Rodin of sculpted noise…
…a title Aux Blood makes some progress in earning on their three latest singles—"Carcrash” (shoegazery á la Jesus and Mary Chain), “No Marks” (distorted melodic postpunk), and “Graveyard” (punky-grungy primal scream therapy) the latter of which dropped just a few days ago—not to mention their eponymous 2021 LP and a couple cool numbers found only on their Bandcamp page…
…and when it comes to doomy and infuriating world events of late requiring massive infusions of auxiliary energy and resources to attempt to counteract the recent Turkey-Syria earthquake surely tops the list which we realize must come off as a flippant transition to make but we’re making it because Aux Blood is headlining a benefit show tonight at Brooklyn’s Gold Sounds Bar with 100% of door and bar proceeds going to charities working on relief efforts in the region…
…an effort that will require a span of who knows how many years with the death toll now having crossed 50,000 not to mention widespread loss of shelter and livelihood for many survivors in a region already beset by challenges and calamities now looking at a whole new level of sustained hardship and lingering trauma to a degree impossible for most reading this to comprehend and if there’s a moment when collaboration is essential this is one of them so come on out to the show if you’re inclined or look for other ways to chip in… (Jason Lee)