Browsing Tag

80s Post Punk

Forget Black Mirror, delve into the darkwave dystopia of Dr Void and the Skinjob’s latest single, Android’s and Polaroid’s

Posted on 21 July 2023

Darkwave and post-punk caustically collide in the latest single, Android’s and Polaroid’s, from the irreplicable powerhouse, Dr Void and the Skinjob’s.

With synth lines dark and reverberant enough they could have been stolen from an 80s horror OST and drum fills frenetic enough they leave the senses in a tailspin, the Glasgow-hailing three-piece surpass their influences from She Past Away, Gary Numan, The Damned, and Clan of Xymox by creating electrifying installations of sonic frenzy paired with dystopic lyrical themes.

Android’s and Polaroid’s follows a similar tale to the TV series Humans by depicting the story of an over-used sex droid that is seduced by freedom and wants to taste human morality after being subjugated to the worst facets of the human condition. It seems that Charlie Brooker isn’t the only one with a talent for portraying dystopic narratives that aren’t too far from the realm of possibility.

Android’s and Polaroid’s is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Post-Punk Meets Desert Rock in The Immaculate Crows’ Spellbinding Single, School of Hard Knocks

Posted on 11 June 2023

Taken from their Light in Dark Rooms EP, The Immaculate Crows’ alt-indie rock single, School of Hard Knocks, is an 80s-nostalgia-swathed invitation to wear the scars you have amassed in your fight to survive as a badge of honour.

In recent years, there has been a heightened prevalence of the presumption that society is a mediocracy where everyone is granted the same opportunity, in complete disregard to the disparity in starting lines. The Immaculate Crows reached out to the disenfranchised with validation written into their spellbinding single, which bridges the gap between Siouxsie Siouxe and Echo and the Bunnymen while working in an extra slice of desert folk-rock glamour. The endlessly compelling female vocal lines pull you right into the centre of the dark yet radiantly mesmerising orchestration.

School of Hard Knocks is available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sonica unveiled their ethereally experimental shoegaze revival, Wait for Me

Posted on 11 February 2023

With one of the most experimental revivalist approaches to Shoegaze known to the airwaves, the Perth-based outfit, Sonica, easily set their lush reverb-swathed tones apart from the rest. Intent on not being another Lush, Ride, or Curve replica act, Sonica found innovative ways of distorting their dream pop melodies without bursting the semi-lucid bubble

The bleeding vocals from Claire Turton stand up to the mesmeric plate, containing the same ethereal beguile as Cocteau Twins and Siouxsie and the Banshees in the moody standout single, Wait for Me, which pushes grungy tones into the midst of the euphonic kaleidoscopic accordance. Leaving ample space for the gritty and cold timbre of 80s post-punk, the four-piece revisited the golden era of shoegaze by taking a route never tread before.

Wait for Me is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Post-Punk urgently bites back in Night Gallery’s single, Suddenly

Posted on 14 October 2022

Post-Punk is back with vengeance in Night Gallery’s new album, Caught Hiding, which features the standout single, Suddenly.

The Peter Hook-Esque stabbing basslines and chaotically kaleidoscopic sonics of Poison Ivy pull together to create the ultimate anthem for those ailed with the kind of off-kilter psyche that is so accurately portrayed in the lyrics. The portrait of the tendency of mental tilts creeping up on you at whiplash speed and the toll that takes is as striking as it is resonant.

Night Gallery found the perfect balance between emotionally raw and sonically finessed with Suddenly. Few post-punk revivals hit the mark as urgently and viscerally. Ben Nelson’s ability to vocally boomerang from Ian Curtis to Julian Casablancas-style energy is something no one will be quick to forget.

Caught Hiding will officially release on October 14th. Check it out for yourselves on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

congo64 is comfortably numb in his post-punk-chilled alt-rock single, I Can’t Feel Your Feelings

Posted on 12 July 2022

Taken from his debut album, Daddy’s Weird, congo64’s lead single, I Can’t Feel Your Feelings, is a highly addictive aural oddity, consisting of layers of 80s post-punk, grungy overdriven rock and 60’s harmony-laced pop.

It takes a lot for a single to send me down a psychological rabbit hole. But with the crooned post-punk chorus, “I Can’t Feel Your Feelings”, you can’t help but consider the reality of the alienating experience of connection when nothing brings resonance. If you can’t relate, consider yourself as lucky as a lottery winner.

Intriguing substance and titular poetry aside, congo64 notably succeeded in crafting a familiar yet grippingly distinctive sonic palette that won’t fail to enthral any seeker of experimental revivalist alt-rock.

I Can’t Feel Your Feelings is now available to stream on Soundcloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Asher Musgrave brought us into a post-punk season with, SummerBelle

Posted on 9 July 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgAKuIiNDeQ

Tampa’s boldest goth rock revivalist, Asher Musgrave, has continued in his endeavour to bring the obscure chill of post-punk & darkwave back into the atmosphere with his latest single, SummerBelle.

The up-and-coming songwriter, musician and producer ensued the experimentalism with a Sisters of Mercy-Esque intro, complete with post-punk crooning. Before breaking into an ensnaring dark amalgamation of burning synths, over-driven guitars and vocals which throw you back to the time when Marilyn Manson was known for Fight Song instead of his questionable antics.

Notably, he’s already on the right track to bring goth rock back into mainstream view. With a little production improvement, he has exactly what it takes.

Check out SummerBelle on Apple Music & YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Post-Punk Meets Nashville Rock and Roll in The Rhythm Bullies’ Latest Snarling Triumph, Smoke Rings

Posted on 20 April 2022

Just when I thought I was getting to the aurally jaded stage of being unable to drop my jaw at new sonic amalgamations, The Rhythm Bullies came along with their discordant cocktail of 80s post-punk & Nashville rock and roll in their latest single ‘Smoke Rings’.

The bluesy psychobilly-Esque heat meeting the chillier post-punk tones under the Gothically drawled vocals and blisters of surf rock proved to be a viscerally alchemic combination. That’s before you factor in the hedonistic nihilist lyrics, such as “the world is burning baby, so grab a cigarette”. Smoke Rings finds a generously subversive way of saying the world is burning, whether we want to see it or not, so you may as well get accustomed to the noxious air.

With riffed-out solos that make the Black Keys and Bauhaus simultaneously sound pedestrian, The Rhythm Bullies have an immense amount of snarling potential. We can’t wait see what they do with it.

You can check them out via Facebook, their official website and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

the Rec show us the English way in their hypnotic psych-tinged rock track, ‘nettles and dock leaves’.

Posted on 4 December 2021

If you thought you’d heard it all when it comes to post-punk revivals, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the latest EP, ep3: The English Way, from the Rec. Syd Barrett aside, rock-inclined textures are rarely as hypnotically arcane as the transcendental tones in the EP, especially in the lead single, nettles and dock leaves.

In 1981, the Shropshire-based founders of the Rec pioneered their original band, the Assassins, who got a taste of fame and found John Peel’s favour before calling it quits. 30 years later, the duo is split between London and LA, but their transatlantic distance didn’t dilute the chemistry between their melodies. With their freshly formed sound, sonic snapshots of the past tie into the present while colliding with Britishly bleak musical landscapes. It’s so much more than a personal nostalgia-fest. It’s an indulgent time capsule to an era that will be forever revered in musical history.

nettles and dock leaves is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Californian alt-rockers Add Moss deliver up some brooding mood music with new single ‘Innamoramento’

Posted on 22 March 2021

Martinez, California alt-rockers Add Moss had an interesting gestation, initially starting out life as a duo comprised of multi-instrumentalists Aussie Bridger and Joey The Coyote, before effectively becoming a solo album project for Bridger following the departure of the Coyote, and then gradually expanding, over time, to a full five-piece band (once again including Joey The Coyote).

Now onto their seventh album, ‘Innamoramento’ is a brooding, moody eighties-inspired take on dark rock, all slow-picked flanged guitar lines, driving drums, and echoey, ethereal bass backing saxophone and Bridger’s reverb-soaked vocal. Starting slow and building to greater and greater power, ‘Innamoramento’ is a classy mix of goth, prog-rock, and jazz fusion, reminiscent of a slower The Mars Volta, Seven Impale, or Closure In Moscow. It’s not the frantic, frenetic, multi-rhythm-centric Volta, for sure, but that proggy fusion influence is clear; this is grown-up alt-rock through and through.

The suitably dark and effected official video for ‘Innamoramento’ is on YouTube; check out Add Moss here.

Review by Alex Holmes

Sam DeMartino put a modern indie twist on alt-folk with their single ‘The Ring’

Posted on 18 March 2021

Drift into alt-folk nostalgia with singer-songwriter, Sam DeMartino’s recently released EP ‘Not Soon Enough’. If Cat Stevens and Elliott Smith always hit the tender sweet spot, the standout single, ‘The Ring’ may just hit harder.

Sam DeMartino has been honing-in on their signature blend of 70s folk, 80s post-punk and 21^st-century indie since high school, based on the ethereal tonal alchemy in The Ring, it’s safe to say that he’s already reached virtuosic heights. The semi-orchestral single possesses a sense of vulnerability that is potent enough to shift your romantic perceptions.

You can hear Sam DeMartino via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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