Arch rock from London quintet, opening track He’ll Never Have A Name has a lolloping moody drums, swathes of menacing guitar and a snapped vocal a little Echo and the Bunnymen giving you a lecture after a few drinks. It lurches into a storm of noise, vocals drifting in the background howling the title, akin to Grinderman‘s more indulgent moments. As the track rages on it loses a little of its initial verve, simmering rather than boiling, but it’s a decent opener to this six track debut EP.
There’s a definite 80s alternative vibe to I Sing, guitar reverbertating over a The Cure-like drum-line, Rob Banham’s voice beginning as a Ian Curtis-like murmur and then turning into a desperate bark as the guitars intensify on this somewhat industrial sounding tune. Meanwhile Sew My Eyes turns from a grimy, spacey grumble into a dizzying haze of body-shuffling drama, propelled by a strong, flat, metronomic drum beat as Banham’s voice burbles stream-of-consciousness.
The delightfully titled Replusive Acts of Penetrative Entertainment is a carousel, driven by Banham’s vocal, a merry-go-round that hypnotises the listener, as the track around him is slowly driven insane, moving from a dizzying round into dischordant notes pounded and battered out of the instruments, shifting then into a slightly mangled version of their former selves. Ever In Fear by comparison feels a little safe, an ominous and steady paced slow-burner that has occasional fits of anguish, though a fine squall it lacks that certain something that managed to either pummel or transfix the ears on earlier tracks.
Closing title track Traum is an epic The Cure-like track, guitars and synth shimmering with 80s tinged sparkle, robotic ambience swirling around in the background as the track slowly builds towards Banham’s vocal beginning as a bassy meditation before he begins squawking ‘I can’t see!’ with an ever increasing sense of trippy bewilderment. It’s a great, grand finale to this generally very accomplished and atmospheric EP that quickly and deftly warps the listener into the dark, foreboding world of The Murder Act and holds them rapt for it’s 37 minutes.
[Rating:4]
