'68 - Give One Take One

Josh Scogin & Nikko Yamada

'68 are a duo from Atlanta, Georgia consisting of Josh Scogin (guitar, vocals) & Nikko Yamada (drums), who replaced Michael McClellan after the group's first two albums.  The band formed after the dissolvement of Scogin's former metalcore band The Chariot, which followed Scogin's early exit as an original member of Norma Jean (who are still releasing albums with none of the founding members remaining).

While the prior two projects were often compared to bands like Botch, '68 sounds like if Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl decided they didn't need a bass player.  This dynamic might have changed with Yamada on board, as I'm speaking from my only foray into the group with their 2014 debut 'In Humor & Sadness'.  Impressively, they managed to fool me into thinking the debut was with a full band, as a band like Lightning Bolt is a pretty good comparison for the amount of chaos (and intricacy) '68 generates as a duo.

'Give One Take One' released today as the band's third full length, and I'm excited to see how much their sound has changed with Yamada on drums, and whether or not Scogin could still fool people he has unreleased Nirvana material.  Light joking aside, Scogin has proved he has a pretty impressive palette of creative skills, and I would bet with this new release that trajectory is still booming.

Bandcamp