It's impossible to read something about Rein Sanction without seeing a reference to Dinosaur Jr. So let's get that out of the way. Yes, the overdriven guitars of Mark Gentry do sound like those of J Mascis. But the comparison really ends there. The music of Rein Sanction is much darker and menacing than anything Mascis created. Where Dinosaur Jr. was essentially a pop band putting forth its songs with monster riffs and Neil Young-inspired wankery (and I mean that as a compliment), Rein Sanction is tapping into the blues in a way, conveying torment through the twisted wail of Gentry's guitar.

The band's sophomore effort, Broc's Cabin, was the first time most heard its music. It's a short blast of 10 songs in less than 30 minutes, the Florida trio blasting through the tracks as if being chased. The opening one-two shot of "F Train" and "Deep Ellis" is an aural assault, yet undeniably catchy. Gentry's wailing guitar is the focus -- he sings, too, but you're hard-pressed to figure out what he's saying, the lyrics essentially acting as a second melody -- while his brother, Brannon, on drums, and bassist Ian Chase, drive things forward with a low rumble.

Things vary a bit tempo-wise from there, slowing some with "Creel," before starting the climb back toward a faster pace on "Limestone." For the rest of the disc, the songs may differ in terms of their speed, but there is little dynamic shift and no real change in terms of the focus on Gentry's guitar. That's fine; the band knows what works and seems loathe to mess with the formula.

While the Dinosaur Jr. comparison comes most easily, it is another SubPop band that perhaps most haunts the proceedings. Broc's Cabin was released about six months before Nirvana's Nevermind. It's reading too much into things, of course, but the cover of this album, from a distance, is like a negative of Nirvana's Bleach, the black bars replaced by white, the image in the middle a dense blackness replacing the vivid, reversed image at the heart of Bleach's cover. Here was another powerful trio whose sound centered on a retiring frontman who compensated with guitar squall. Of course, the flannel-clad revolution that seemed to drag along every other band with loud guitars left Rein Sanction behind. The band issued one more disc, the more accomplished but less-exciting Mariposa, just a year later, then seemed to fade away.

The great thing about these Out of the Shadows write-ups, however, is rediscovery. Rein Sanction still exists, it seems. It issued a limited edition single in 2006, and has a 1996 album, an unreleased 1999 EP and other songs available for purchase on its MySpace page. Gentry has also recorded some solo material. The music sounds a bit more mellow these days, understandable given the 15 years that have passed since Mariposa. Yet whatever it was that drove the band in the first place can still be detected. It's good to have them back.

MP3: F Train
MP3: Creel

Labels: music, OOTS