Friend of the Reatard...Addicted to the Blade

 Seth Sutton is the mind behind Useless Eaters. 

Useless Eaters started as a one-man project in Memphis, where self-taught musician Seth Sutton grew up. The first EP Sucked In was released by Goner Records in 2009. Working with Goner Records, Seth met another Goner regular, Jay Reatard. The two hit it off & Seth began touring with Jay. Jay died in 2010, but Seth learned a lot from him in the last two years of his life.

"Jay always felt like he was running out of time," explains Sutton, "so he thought it was important to try and be as musically productive as possible." 

 

Useless Eaters grew into a touring band. Seth lived in Nashville, Toronto, & Germany before settling in San Francisco. Useless Eaters showcase Sutton's meaty melodies, loose-limbed riffs, & undying love of punk-not-punk artists like Television, Devo, or Wire. Sutton channels his lonely childhood living on army bases & his wanderings through Memphis, Toronto, Germany, San Francisco, & his current hometown Nashville into lyrics that reach well beyond tired punk tropes, whether that amounts to metaphorical love stories or brutally honest nervous breakdowns.

On Hypertension, Sutton clears away layers of dust from his scrappy sound, presenting haymaker hooks & restless rhythms. You'll find power chord progressions filled with stuttering guitar diversions in the background & creative disruptive note choices. This has all the hallmarks of retro garage punk. 

 

Useless Eaters - Hypertension, Jeffery Drag Records JD-17, 2013.
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Side A -

New Program
Moody Bitch
Addicted to the Blade
Death Gripped
Life on a Grid
Black Night Ultraviolet

Side B -

Hypertension
Shapes of a Mannequin
Wyte Gurls
Smoke Alarm
Malfunction
Vertical Africa

Enjoy,
NØ