The nights are drawing in, the wind is whipping up, the days are wet and grey. But it’s still nicer than summer was, hey?!? Lovely reds and oranges and you don’t actually feel a bit silly and a bit hot and full for having a Sunday Roast. Is your heating on yet? Mine is intermittently when the thermostat dictates. This is an interesting line of conversation isn’t it. Nice weekend? Jolly good. Monday again, Tracks of the Week time. Lovely jubbly.
BUNŨEL – Class
Why we love it: because this is how to marry terror with timing. Frighteningly measured, it’s the sound of a band with live electricity running through their collective veins. ‘Class’ is taken from BUNŨEL’s upcoming album, Mansuetude. The record’s title is an archaic word meaning mildness or gentleness, neither of which could be used, even remotely, to describe the intoxicating dust of industrial noise that BUNŨEL kick up.
Speaking about ‘Class’ the band’s vocalist Eugene S. Robinson says, “America is schizophrenic about class and class attributes. On the one hand we claim it doesn’t exist here, on the other hand like Paul Fussell lays out in his book on class it works its way through every aspect of American life and living. The song itself eviscerates the notion by placing it where it most needs to be placed: in the iD fuelled underworld.”
Prepare yourself to be excoriated. (Simon Godley)
A Place To Bury Strangers – Fear of Transformation
Why we love it: A Place To Bury Strangers release new single ‘Fear Of Transformation’ from their album, Synthesizer, which was released digitally on Friday and will be released on vinyl on 25 October via Dedstrange. It follows singles ‘Disgust’ ‘You Got Me’ and ‘Bad Idea’, and is a pulsating, techno-punk track which delves into the struggle of overcoming internal barriers. As frontman Oliver Ackermann explains:
“Sometimes fear builds up and pins you in a cage. A conversation occurs in my head where I have to convince myself to just fucking do something to break out of it.”
‘Fear Of Transformation’ is an anxiety fuelled slice of electronica but with drums and guitars which kick in to add to maelstrom. It’s tetchy but the beats are mesmeric, such is the pace. The accompanying video was created by Chad Crawford Kinkle, director of Dementor and Jugface. Such is the timing of the release, the visuals are pitched perfectly with a teenage boy sneaking out from his parent’s house to go to his first Furry party, but he has a secret. He’s actually a werewolf.
Synthesizer is the title of A Place to Bury Strangers’ seventh album. However it is so much more than that. It is a physical entity, a synthesizer made specifically for you to own, too, if you buy the record on vinyl. You can watch Ackermann demonstrate how to play the circuit board and functional synth album cover here. In an era of making music where so little is DIY and so much is left up to AI, to never setting foot in a practice room or a home studio, making something that feels deliberately chaotic, messy, and human, is entirely the point. Synthesizer very much feels like a record of reinvention. And of course, to ever so slightly reinvent one’s sound, one must also build a new instrument, thus again the synth in question. (Julia Mason)
Carpet – Ok For Now
Why we love it: because with songs as good as ‘Ok For Now’ Rob Slater won’t be a stranger for too much longer. The man behind the wheel of the Carpet vehicle has driven for far too long under the radar, but with the Leeds-based artist’s new EP Fruit set to arrive on the 1st of November via Launchpad+ he will shortly find himself on the wider musical map.
Described by Rob Slater as “a reflection of a “lockdown song,” capturing the helplessness and unresolved feelings that many experienced during that time”, ‘Ok For Now’ is the third track on the EP and just as he rightly suggests shines an old light on a period of hopelessness. Yet for all of the futility that bleeds out of the song’s pores, ‘Ok For Now’ comes wrapped in one of Slater’s gorgeous lo-fi melodies and imbued with his distinctive sonic personality. (Simon Godley)
Fierce Shook – Bus Trip
Why we love it: Fierce Shook will release their latest EP Something Sophisticatedon to all streaming services on 11 October. The 4-track EP swings from the melodic and melancholic to the harsh and experimental. New single ‘Bus Trip’ sits in the former category, displaying the versatility of the Irish trio. Lyrically its a song about processing grief, however it shuffles along with the rhythm of a train on the tracks, thus exuding an air of acceptance. It’s been two years since their last single ‘Luthite’ and Fierce Shook have used this time working on new material and further developing their sound. The EP Something Sophisticated was recorded and mixed by Shauny Cads (Chewie, Burning Realm, Primordial) at Last Light Recording, providing a giant step forward from Fierce Shook’s previously self-recorded releases. ‘Bus Trip’ remains with the listener long after the track has finished. Do check out the EP come Friday 11 October. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. (Julia Mason)
Khana Bierbood – Fi Rak Senae-ha
Why we love it: because here Thailand goes West, young man. And woman. For their latest single, ‘Fi Rak Senae-ha’ – meaning ‘Fire, Love and Enchanted’ – the six-piece band Khana Bierbood from Thailand’s beach side sub-district Bangsaen have taken the more traditional melodic and rhythmic Buddhist recitations and given them a cosmopolitan psychedelic spin.
The song is drawn from their second album Monolam which is set for release on October 25th via Guruguru Brain. It’s funky, far eastern and fabulous. Get it in your ears now. (Simon Godley)
Life Aquatic Band – You Can Do It
Why we love it: Sheffields’s Life Aquatic Band (L.A.B.) have released their new single ‘You Can Do It!’ It’s a quirky, spunky, off kilter track which delivers a repeated positive affirmation which will worm it’s way into your ear. It was written by vocalist Ben Allen after a slew of damp Sheffield flats had led him to assess the housing market and what was considered liveable. He lists them off: “four walls, front door, back door, exposed plasterboard, damp walls, black mould…”. The chaos increases as the track progresses, perhaps reflecting the frustration of this situation. Everything starts aligned at the outset but by the end everything is starting to fall apart. Even the vocal is getting twitchy and out of sync, the tension and anxiety ever increasing. Don’t get me wrong, this is all thoroughly entertaining and the lightness of touch is reminiscent of 90s punk funk. Life Aquatic Band aim to bring a sense of optimism into their changing sound, and that can only be a good thing in their turbulent times. (Julia Mason)
Getdown Services – I’m Not Feeling It
Why we love it: ‘I’m Not Feeling It’ is the new single from Bristol duo Getdown Services. It’s the first to be taken from their upcoming EP Your Medal’s In The Post. Josh Law and Ben Sadler have had a hectic year including the release of their debut album Crisps plus a lot of time spent on the road bringing their notoriously raucous live show to venues up and down the land. So how on earth they have found time to time to record a six track EP?
‘I’m Not Feeling It’ sees the duo step in a slightly different direction. Disco synth beats open the track but the pace is a little more measured, more thoughtful. The gentle funky vibes hide depth within the lyrics. As lyricist Josh Lawsays:
“’I’m Not Feeling’ is about acceptance and about being depressed. It’s about the experience of good things washing over you without imparting any of their goodness. Being aware of things without feeling them. Being grateful but only in an abstract sense. It’s also about the hopefulness that comes from realising your circumstances aren’t necessarily what’s preventing you from feeling better. There is an optimism in accepting the extent to which you are imposing a darkness on the world: it’s not always the world imposing darkness on you. When I’ve been in this state of mind I’ve found that little things are most often the things that cut through. My dad cutting my mum’s toenails as an act of love. My sister being on the Dean’s list at her university. Wreck it Ralph. It’s a tribute to these things that anchor you and penetrate the dull fuzz of poor mental health.”
‘I’m Not Feeling It’ doesn’t shirk from expressing vulnerability, and those grooves are utterly delightful. The guitar riffs towards the end will have the whole crowd bobbing along. The outro shows a lack of regard for just how tracks “should” be composed. Getdown Services throw the rule book out the window – thank heavens. (Julia Mason)
