Most of the time when I look for 'post- punk" bands I want something that is more goth than punk. I do like actual post -punk that is tense sprawling and sonic , but as with most music I want it to be dark. Here is a band that strikes the dark chords for me. They do have punk drive to them as well. A lot of this lies in the guitar tone, is there plenty of reverb and delay? Are the vocals still sung and not just shouting ? This album by the Phylly band came out back in July and finds this band really balances all the sounds I need and still turning them into actual songs. The melodies get even stronger and almost pop catchy on "Liminal Space".
When they do dip into punk it kind of wastes the talents they have shone so far as it sounds just like all the other punk with more effects on the guitars. "Condolences' finds the band splitting the difference with more naunced guitar playing and melodies infused with more of a punk inspired energy. I can work with that . The default to a more punk approach , but with better guitar on "Dead Head" .I think the only problem with it , is at this pace it kind crowds the room for where the vocals would be able to have actually sing. I am aboviously going to prefer the more Cure like sounds that come from a song like "Daisy Chained" .
Goth normally runs of creepy bass lines . So it is with " Kinry" which has a mor deat hrock feel to it.This works to me as the frantic punk side is set against a more chilling background. I like this but I like it better when they allow her to open up and sing more like they do with "Waiting' which might give her a more pop tenderness to her voice, but it makes for a better song. I will give this album a 9, it's one of the better albums to emerge from the dark side of post-punk this year.
Yeah I am know I am expected to keep up with everything dark, particularlly when it might fall close to the bounds of what could be construed as goth. While this band from California is not goth, they do play a cavernous version of post - punk that is darker than those more content with the punk side of the equation. They have a great guitar tone. The album sounds awesome as well. The production is some of the best I have heard for this sort of thing. They nail capturing the mood of the 80s this genre owes it's existence to without sacraficing sound quality. The vocals are the band's one week spot. On "Catacombs" the work pretty well. They tend to be blanketed in effects. This is good news considering how they are more spoken than sung in a dead pan baritone . Not a Ian Curtis rip off, but not singing as much as Eldritch.
They are not a shoe gaze band , but draw inspiration from it on "Pictured Perfect" . It has more of an atmospheric drone. The manage to balance out sonic shimmer with tension going into "Still Working Hard" . This is where it is evident the vocals are a one trick pony. Not totally tiresome at this point. They are working off more of a sound than a song here. The guitar playing is great and in many ways compensates for their short comings in other areas. "Sherbert" picks up the pace. It took a third listen to this album before this song began to catch on with me. The monotone narrative, not doing much for me at this point. By the time we get to "the Push" the songs have begun to sound the same. It is a good thing the beat to "Good Talks" shifted enough to smooth out that problem. The vocals are not doing anything different.
The vocals drop a little lower on " Trail of Grief" . This contrasts the music that is more upbeat. The more Cocteau Twins like strum of guitar surfaces on "Glow" . Even a marginally more melodic vocals would help at this point. Instead it the same cadence. The bass provides a more ominous under current for "Nothing New". This is perhaps the closest it gets to singing. I will round this down to an 8, as the vocals bore me, though the music is wonderful. They are better than average song writers and things work more often than not are they are better than post punk bands that place more emphasis on the punk side.
The bands first album in 10 years finds them picking up not far from where they left off while still sounding like they are from the 90s . Blending melody with sonic tension they deliver pretty much everything you might want from the darker side of post-punk. There are some surprising in the compositions as melodic break downs in the middle of the song. His voice is very smooth. It's a baritone , but not stiff and capable of employing varied dynamics. The bass line to "Wish No Harm" is more predictable leaving the ebb and flow of the vocals to carry most of the song's weight. Not reinventing the wheel, but very good at what they are doing. It is when the band breaks away from what l feel is their strength on "Another Fallen Petal" which has more of a U2 thing going on
. When they employ a strum on "Drinking Yourself to Sleep" it feels more like The Church. Not their most compelling song, but Like it more than the previous one. "Sunglass" feels like "Something I Will Never Have" in the atmosphere more than the melody, though the piano line is similar. Mike Portfleet of Lycia is on the song "Planet of Me". I might be the album's most goth moment. Certainly one of the darkest moments. "Sliding Under Cars" sounds like Neil Diamond jamming with a more upbeat late 80s Killing Joke. There is a more modern indie rock feel to "Fireflies". Distorted guitar is not their thing. The synths play melodies that sound like they would be Cure guitar lines and that is one of the songs coolest elements. Though I appreciate the post punk like tension here.
"1987" is kind of bland and sound like Crash Test Dummies with higher vocals . They begin to lose their darker touch at this juncture in the album and it begins to fall flat on me. I can hear a little The The influence on "Falling". It really sounds like any mid 90s mainstream pop rock song. I will round this down to a 7.5, as though there are songs I like on this some of the ballads and happier moments did little for me.
This California band's album opens with something closer to death rock, with ghoulishly crooned vocals and almost new wave guitars. Things to do not end their so don't be quick to label their sound. "Down Grade" has a lo fi drum machine and reverb jangle of guitars. The vocals take on a more matter of fact post-punk delivery and the begin to sound more like A Place to Bury Strangers. There is more melody to "Sacred Limousine". The vocals are almost more punk. Somewhat spoken but with a great deal of attitude. This is a pretty garage like recording , but it works with what they are doing. Their lyrics are pretty interesting. Some bleak social commentary not unlike Sonic Youth.
I really like the darker drive that propels "Maiden China". The chorus is a little under stated, but over all the song works. It is almost like a more punk version of She Wants Revenge. After this song there is a great deal of experimental noise filled with weird samples. A beat bubbles out of one such sonic landscape. Sometimes these are more like interludes though on "Cheek Detritus". "Facts Without Faces" finds them embarking back upon a more low fi dark wave with half the melodrama. The vocals are more sung and less Joy Division.. .
The album ends with more atmosphere it reminds me of bands like the Butthole surfers from the 90s, where swathes of that sort of thing connected the album, back when people listened to albums all the way through. I will give this album and 8 and keep an ear out for what these guys do in the future it doesn't need much fine tuning and certainly heading in the right direction already. It came out on Dias Records
Once again I take a look at a classic album and see how well it not only stands up over time, but resonates with me. Since today is the 37th Anniversary of the Cure's 1981 album "Faith" , Their 3rd album , "Faith" finds them hurling further into the dark place they began exploring on "Seventeen Seconds"/"The Holy Hour" is heavy in it's gloomy plod. I normally doing like their more up beat songs. "Primary" was still in touch with their punk side, and aggressively shoves it mood in your face. The taunt tension it moves with has gone onto to influence tons of post-punk bands. There is a colder stiffness to the bass groove of "Other Voices", yet it is a lighter mood than the first two songs.
Once we get to "All Cats are Gray" the sonic rain clouds begin to settle over the albums more narcotic drone. Synths begin to play a larger role as the atmosphere begins to thicken. Robert Smith's begin to show another side . His vocal is less of a staccato punk and more of a smoother vulnerable croon."Funeral Party" finds his vocals coated in a more despondent longing as the synths form a more dream like wall behind him. With lyrics like "two pales figures ache in silence" I think you can't get more goth than that, though Smith insisted the band was never goth. They just like to dance at funeral parties. "Doubt" finds them picking it up into more of a punk pace and Robert Smith's vocals revert back to what he was doing on the first two albums. Lyrically it's more aggressive, it seems ridiculous for Robert Smith to sing about beating someone up, but that is what's happening.
"the Drowning Man" might be the album's most powerful song with it's ethereal drone. The few people who I have spoken with who aren't into the Cure site the reason as being Robert Smith is too whiny for them. This is one of the few songs where his emoting might have a whine to it. I also doubt some one giving them a casual listen is going to hear since it's a deeper cut on an earlier album and not one that garnered much in the way of radio play. The title track closes the album. It follows a simple beat with the layers of single note guitar creating another drone. The lyrics might be the album's most depressing. There are some more abstract and some what religious metaphors in the them. I'll round this one up to a 10 not their best album, but we are talking about at band who has made some of best albums of all time, so the bar is pretty high. It is still an important piece of their evolution and a great getting high on a rainy day album.
We are beginning to close in on the top 20 soon, the bar is getting raised with some of Robert Smith and company's better works. These are not their most popular songs, but the best. The sheeple can't handle the best, so Robert knows how to keep the rent paid and writee pop songs , but that is not typically what you are going to find here. 30-Last Dance
It will be no surprise that songs from 'Disintegration" will begin weighing in heavily on the list right about now. The guitar in this song is so incredible it's easy to hear how I can rank it above something like "Killing An Arab"
29- A Short Term Effect
Not the band's darkest or heaviest moments, it does still head in that direction. I love the production on the vocals of this one. The songs' hypnotic drone sums up much of what I look for in music.
28-Want
Working on this has reminding me what a great album "Wild Mood Swings" is. While other albums might have more entries on this list it certainly holds it own here.
27-A Letter to Elise
While this song embodies everything about the Cure's more mainstream radio friendly excursions, it's so well written and performed it's hard to argue against. Still it's far from being the anthem of basic bitches like "Friday I'm in Love"
26-At Night
This track from their 1980 album 'Seventeen Seconds" is precursor to their darker heavier side that would come out of the shadows on "Pornography" a few years later, but still holds up on it's own.
25-Pictures of You
This and maybe one other song are the representatives of mainstream radio air play Cure. So don't hold your breath for the basic bitch "Just Like Heaven" shit to show up. The guitar playing on this song is pretty dope and it carries the melancholy to the masses.
24-Push
This song might have some of the more accessible elements of their sound, but still transitions over live well enough for me to put it here and is one of Smith's strongest vocals
23-Strange Attraction
Here is another happy Cure song, though if you listen closely it's easy to hear many elements from Siouxsie's sound on this. Another source of prood that "Wild Mood Swings" is wildly under rated.
22-End
Off of "Wish" this song is a good example of what I refer to on this blog and others when I talk about something being heavy in terms of emotional weight, sonic scope and darkness. This is not the darkest Cure so though the lyrics are rather bleak, there is a ton of emotion in this one though.
21-The Walk
It was the "Mixed Up" remix of this song that won me over. It adds a darker tone, but I think it goes to show a good song is going to be a good song if at it's core the song is solid. I normally don't like the Cure's happier moments , but there is an exception to every rule when you are crying like a Japanese baby.
This one just popped up in my in box with little buzz around it. Carson Cox got his start playing in hard core punk bands before starting Merchandise. It is weird hearing his croon over the more pounding pieces. It makes more sense on "Dream Machine" which has more swagger and finds them meeting at that cross roads in the 80s that I am such a big fan of where punk got darker and more melodic. "The Meal" finds this throbbing down an even darker sonic alley. It's not smoothed out like Merchandise, and has feedback squealing off the edges. When they throw themselves into a more boisterous punk on the short blast of "Furio Controllo" it has more in common with more the Stooges that say Negative Approach. The punk spasms come from unexpected places. They jump out at you from places it might make more sense for a chorus to come from.
Carson works with the music on " Little N Pretty" allowing the vocals to carry all the melodic weight and in creating this jagged post-punk feel , while the guitar stick to very straight forward style of punk playing. The first song where they wander out into left field for experimentation is " Lost Bodies". The effected vocals would not be out of place on an industrial album from the 80s. Considering the more radio rock direction Merchandise went on "After the End". "We've A Got Number" feels very honest even with the rambunctious attitude that explodes from it. The over driven thump of bass drags the gritty brooding of "JFK" out into the daylight. It's droning lumber has an almost Swans feel. "Patto Con Dio" hits hard with out relying on aggression. Cox's vocal has enough room to move the melodies around. The final two minutes of this one they let boil on noise.
I'll give this one a 9, though I think it will continue to grow on me"Lost Bodies" has some cool sounds , but it is the only song I don't feel like I will need to have with me when I am on the go. Overall there hasn't been a punk album dark enough to do much for me in sometime so it's good to hear something fresh from an old familar voice.
I am beginning to care less and less about some of the so -called post-punk revival bands. Or maybe I am on the verge of beginning to careless. If some put out some legitimate tasty darkness, I might get a little more invested. We are five or more years into this wave of it so bands are beginning to make the same album all over again. It is better than your average indie rock fare and I want some one to get it right and engage me , which brings me to the new one from the Portland band Soft Kill. The first two have a Joy Divisionish indie rock feel , the vocals are sung more than Ian Curtis. On "Hit the Floor" things take a turn for the darker and a more Cure like ambiance comes in though some of the guitar melodies that are woven around the pulsing drums and bass
There is a little Jesus and the Mary Chain influence to shake things up in "Selfish Love". The vocals drop into a more hushed baritone and the song isn't driving all the way with constant tension. "Current" backs off and lets the guitar melody ring out in a manner more like the Cure's more punk rock early days. Then things return back to a darker place for the title track. The vocals are breathier but in more of Jesus and Mary Chain than Joy Division. The guitar parts are well layered. This album generally sounds good. The mix puts everything in the right place with needed amount of emptiness to give the hollow post- punk coldness.
Overall this album might not be re-inventing the post punk wheel, but they do offer up some well crafted sounds. It hits more than it misses, but like I said and maybe I'm in the minority but with any genre I want to hear something different that twenty other bands are doing. When that is the case it just makes more sense to go listen to who ever did it first because they more than likely did it best, since the idea was still fresh at that point. I'll give this album a 7.5 , it redeems itself in the later half despite ,not a bad start just one that really doesn't stand out and have much dynamic range between the first two songs. This album is being released on 12" lp via No Sun Recordings
The trend in the maturation of hard core kids seems to be pulling out Nick Cave and Echo and the Bunnymen albums. This could be due to the interest in vinyl these kids took a few years back which might have caused them to stumble over these old 80s albums. I am fine with this as long as they do no become to slavish in their devotion only to Joy Division. I love Joy Division , but I do think dark music begins or ends with the. in the they do not abandon their hard core side. It is put through a darker filter when they roar out into "Vaccinate". They marry the two sides in an emotive manner than find them treading closer to more organic introspection characteristic of Brand New. The tender melancholic tone that opens "Memories of You" is closer to the conventional goth that emerged out of the 80s before it is pounded into a more angered demeanor. It carries an angular jerk in some ways like that of At- Drive In, but with more malice and dissonance. They make you think they are always on the verge of returning to a more melodic nature. "Clearing the Forest" its dips and drags back and forth like a bi-polar tug of war. The tightly picked guitar work add a creepy slink to the songs drugged momentum.
The first song that their more punk roots takes time to grow on me is "Sunlight Sonata". The almost sung break downs in the verse helps to smooth this over for me. The tension reaches more metallic proportions on "Abyssal Blessing" that gives more of a dirty chug to things and finds them taking on a more Black Flag like anger. It took a few listens to distinguish "Pepper Tree" which finds itself wedged in between to other songs like an interlude. The vocals are more amorphous as this ditty doesn't fit neatly into what you might expect from a song. There is a jazzy slink to the sleazy punk narrative of "Downtown". The brings things down to a crawl with "What's Needed". It balances melody with the angst.
This is an incredible album that gives me just what I needed , they blend the "gothy" elements in a very fluid and natural manner similar to how Atriarch does this with metal. Each listen the more hard core emoish parts grew on me. It's one of those albums that becomes more enriched the further you dig into its grave. I'll give it a 10 no problem. Worth your time for sure if you like dark and heavy music, these guys got the balance right without trying to hard.
