Kowloon Walled City

Emerging within the contemporary noise rock movement alongside Neurosis, Thou, YOB, and Sleep, Oakland’s Kowloon Walled City extends the foundational approach established by the Jesus Lizard and Unsane into unexplored territories of sonic weight. Their method centers on detuned, impossibly thick guitars and an inexhaustible supply of fury, yielding a crushing blend that merges math rock, sludge, and doom metal. Since their introduction in 2008 the quartet has produced a succession of inventive and widely praised recordings, among them Gambling on the Richter Scale (2009), Container Ships (2012), Grievances (2015), and Piecework (2021).

The lineup consists of guitarist/vocalist Scott Evans, bassist Ian Miller, drummer Dan Sneddon, and guitarist Jon Howell. They first appeared in 2008 with the EP Turk Street and followed it the next year with their debut full-length, Gambling on the Richter Scale. In 2010 the group supplied two songs to the three-way split Lose Lose Lose alongside Fight Amp and Ladder Devils. Their second album, the urgent and engaging Container Ships, appeared in 2012 on Brutal Panda. The following year they joined Batillus for a cover of Godflesh’s “Anthem.” Grievances, their third LP and initial release on Neurot Records, arrived in 2015. Six years afterward they issued the slow-burning Piecework, whose shorter yet equally heavy tracks drew on themes of family, loss, and resilience.