To fully understand the newest record Cool World from Oklahoma City noise-rock quartet Chat Pile, you have to listen to the previous record God's Country. The band is creating a raw, years-long story outlining the human experience during this particular time and the progression from God's Country to Cool World resonates so closely to my own feelings, it is further confirmed that unique experiences are few and far between.
As wars rage, billionaires thrive and the illusion of democracy slowly falls apart, the overall dread experienced as a human collective in today's world often comes across like a shared fever dream. "Cool World covers similar themes to our last album, except now exploded from a micro to macro scale, with thoughts specifically about disasters abroad, at home, and how they affect one another," says vocalist Raygun Busch.
Opening track "I Am Dog Now" signifies, to me, the taking of our world back from the passive hands of an assumed higher power into the hands of its people, the ones who ultimately wield all of the power and the ability to enact change. The lyric "Remember, everyone bleeds" is a reminder that we are on this Earth together as one humankind with no one person as "God", thus we should act accordingly. The prominent bass lines in this track, and throughout the entire record, are thick and powerful, consistently grounding the brighter guitar sections and reminding listeners of Chat Pile's heavier influences.
Without clear guidelines, pinning Cool World's sound to a single genre feels impossible—though, that's the essence of "Noise" rock. Their music swirls with diverse guitar tones, weaving between goth and sludge, while the drums drive forward with a progressive, ever-changing pulse adding a sense of pleasing unpredictability. It's a wild fusion that defies easy categorization, making the band's sound as expansive as it is distinct.
"Frownland" (my favorite track), brings unpredictable bridges and an unsettling vocal chorus tone, followed by "Funny Man" with faster vocals and technical, unnerving picking, breaking up the record to keep things interesting. "Tape" brings in a repetitive line of "it was the worst I ever saw…" and on while on the first listen it feels like this track may be inspired by a specific event, on the second listen I hear Busch's doom-laden vocals as droning social media commentary made by internet warriors who refuse to take real action. A de-sensitized human race. "The New World" and "Masc" hit harder, pummeling listeners with faster paces, backed by more atmospheric distortions, with heavier growling beautifully capped on each end.
Final track "No Way Out" might as well be the definition of dread with a gritty, visceral edge. Chat Pile takes every second of this song to reiterate that we have been born into a system that deliberately robs us of dreams to keep us complacent. Admittedly this record was hard to stomach while the two states I've previously called home were ravaged by the consequences of climate change, and it hit me in an unexpected place. It brought me solace to have a record I can keep for my personal journal of existential doom.
