In a world saturated by pop culture cynicism, the association between
rock music and rebellion looking more and more like a bad joke with every
decade, it seems to me that the gradual rise in the underground of what I call
‘rock band self harm’ can be seen as perhaps one of today’s most relevant trends.
‘Worship’ is an album at war with itself. Drums, guitars, bass and
vocals compete violently for attention in a hostile environment of noise and
grit. Traditional sounds are totally subverted – this is a challenge to, even a
war on, the pop/rock medium itself. Screeching, frazzled guitars are yanked in
and out of tune behind trashy drums; its a belligerent, volatile wasteland.
Under normal circumstances you’d have to give a lot of the credit to the
production team, as APTBS’s originality owes a lot to this fascinating
interpretation of the ultra-lofi production aesthetic. Except these guys did everything themselves, even the
mastering. Pretty impressive, right?
Strongly defined by shoegaze and gothic, as well as industrial and noise
rock, ‘Worship’ pushes new territory into the otherwise stale trajectory of
post-punk, with all the sneer and menace you’d expect from, say, an early
Bauhaus record left uncompromised (songs like ‘Revenge’ or ‘Why I Can’t Cry
Anymore’ are not for the faint-hearted). This is a magnificent, well-balanced
and truly authentic album that proves there is still mileage on the 80’s
bandwagon.
No comments:
Post a Comment