Hot Guts: "Wilds"

Think of a dark wave version of Cult of Youth, despite the fact these guys were at the forefront of the post-punk revival back in 2007, they are taking another step into dark wave on this one. It has a cold militant Death In June as the vocals on the opener are as chanted as they are sung. At times the backing tracks could be from a Bjork song , it's the vocals that really darken the doorstep. One thing that really began to wear on me with the Hateful Abandon album.... the review has been sitting in draft mode for sometime I will try to get it out later tonight... but it's the drone, these guys at least make a change, even if they sound like the Pet Shop Boys in doing so .

These changes are often subtle and the album sifts into a Psychic Tv haze around " Kite and Shadow" and three songs passed me by before i knew it. There is a vague bubbling form to songs like "Gold Silent" which is really just the intro to "Fires" that takes a darker shimmy. The vocals here remind me more of Genesis P orridge. There is a more militant attitude here, it doesn't reach aggressive, not unlike Death In June. He doesn't quite make it to actually singing.

One of the albums coolest keyboard riffs opens "the Name of the World". This breaks down into a more subdued almost kraut rock verse passage that the vocals brood over. The combination of the two makes it one of the albums best songs.The 80's vibe comes on strong with "Drift". It sounds like it was written with this Casio" keyboard I use to have in the 90's . Something about the song, makes me forget and have to keep going back to listen to meaning it must not be that memorable.

The album ends with "A Kindness". The smooth female vocals introduced here break up the monotony created by the previous song. The synths paint a ominously bleak portrait of a dystopian winter behind these melodies.Just as well I got my fill of this album on Bandcamp rather than frustrating myself with the futility of trying to find a blog that had it. It's cool for what it is sets a nice tone , but not something I need for m iPod so I'll give it a 7.5.Well crafted and dark. The sounds are all pristine.