Mandy, Indiana : "i've seen a way"

This Manchester based band starts off their new album with more of a synth wave groove. Then things take a turn back to the  noisy weirdness that might be expected of this project. Chanted vocals and sometimes abrasive bursts of pounding drums. Industrial tinged , but I would not call them an industrial band. I am not sure I would call Throbbing Gristle an industrial band either, but we will get to that when I run the Top 50 Industrial Albums list. "Pinking Shears" has a strong beat and the chanting vocals work well around it . The song shows you do not have to stick to conventions in order to write a song that is catchy enough to be deemed worthwhile to my ears. 

"Injury Detail" sounds like something you might do aerobics to in dystopian Berlin. There is a noisy interlude that follows this song , which I am not counting as part of this review as I do not feel it really contributes much to the album. The more robotic ambiance of "the Driving Rain" works well. It drones on nice sounds but does not really go anywhere. "2 Stripe' sounds like it should be playing in the background of the next "Blade Runner" movie. Not a main theme song, more like what would be playing in the back ground of a food court. The beat to this song is somewhat Massive Attack in nature, despite the futuristic vibes. 

The song "Iron Maiden" has nothing to do with the band. There is electric guitar in it. Not harmonizing, and far from guitar solos. Almost more like an interlude. "Peach Fuzz" is noisy techno, but the song moves well, and the chanted vocals serve some purpose. There is a bizarre ambient interlude before the last song that is actually longer than the actual last song. It works well enough for me, there is a more deliberate marching feel to it. I will give this album an 8.5 , it's pretty impressive when they set their minds to writing songs, but the coat of strange the bulk of the songs are painted with sometimes descends the cool ideas into noise, though most of the time things work out better than expected to make for compelling electronic music that shows experimentation pays of , though a little goes a long way.