In recent years Orlando’s underground scene has gone from strength to strength. The Popnihill label has released a slew of forward thinking cassettes that blur the lines between experimentalism, electronica and rock. Another band that has been blurring the lines is noise space rockers TTN. Since 2015 they have put out a handful of singles that hinted at a band who would someday deliver something full of devastating tones along with glorious rhythms. That someday is now, as 247, sound, 2118, Noise, and 531, Resonance, with Dr. Argus Q. Faux on vocals, have released their debut album Indoctrination.
After a brief intro track that sets the mood with space samples, ruinous beats, severe synths and crushingly catchy guitars Indoctrination begins proper. The skewed melodies on ‘PSR 1257+12 {Lich}’ are delightful and reassure us that this isn’t just going to be half an hour of abrasive synths, brutal drum beats and distorted guitars. While these all feature on the album, TTN have a good ear for melody and know what best serves each song. Slightly unexpectedly TTN cover The Fall’s classic ‘Totally Wired’. Covering The Fall can always be dicey. The late Mark E. Smith had such a distinctive voice that imitators usually fall over the foot they’ve put in their mouth, but weirdly, or ‘wiredly’ should that be, this cover works pretty well. Instead of trying to do a note-for-note cover TTN reimagine the track to their strengths, namely a wall of space noise. The vocal delivery does let it down, as instead of Smith’s trademark biting snarl, Dr. Argus Q. Faux sounds sarcastic, and at times, sardonic. The strongest track on the album is ‘ATLAS’. Massive beats do most of the heavy lifting while searing guitars and synths intertwine to create something abrasive and lyrical in equal measure.
https://ttnmusic.bandcamp.com/track/atlas
Indoctrination is TTN’s most cohesive and enjoyable release to date. Yes some of the songs did appear on previous releases but they have been re-recorded, jiggled and tinkered with so that these new versions surpass the original ones. That being said it would have been great to hear something new rather than reupholstered. Overall Indoctrination is a load of fun that showcases a band that understand the genres they are working with and have delivered something that manages to make experimental noise space rock sound accessible and, even, poppy in places. After listening to this a few times you will definitely be indoctrinated to TTN and their warped sonic world view.
The self released Indoctrination is out now.
