Barbican – Greyscale
Where have the musicians learned to groove like that? What facility that plays music and encourages dancing would allow people like this to walk on their premises? Those are serious questions that prosecutors may one day need to ask themselves, but ones that also make listening to “Greyscale” all the more entertaining. This is the rare band whose sound invites conspiracy theories.
The fact of the matter is that all of those meet-and-greets and Cameo video calls may have provided musicians with some much-needed cash flow, but have ruined any hope of keeping rock n’ roll evil and uninviting. Remember the musicians whose records used to scare you senseless when you were a kid. Well, they’re probably available for a chat, for a fee on some internet platform.
There’s plenty of contemporary post-punk being made in Britain. And, predictably, all of the people making it sound like they’d rather paddle a canoe to Spain than spend one more day where they are. But few can still groove, wobble and pirouette like Barbican manage to “Greyscale.” The Bristol-band’s song is wonderfully produced and terrifically sinister. It sounds like the music made by someone who sneaks into your party for entirely sinister reasons. Questions will be asked!
DYSBANDED – Bitter
Bands get overexposed nowadays quicker than lager turns to piss. Still, there’s little reason to blame them. The first advice that any of them receive from managers and in-the-know industry professionals is to share all of the details of their musical journey. DYSBANDED is a group that knows the power of mystery.
The internet’s proven a nifty tool for self-promotion. It is true that there are bands that’ve accrued a fan base slowly because of their online appeal. But it’s also true that for every one of those, there are thousands of other releases that get no attention whatsoever.
What would a music scene be without some mystery anyway? Why would you want to attend shows, collect memorabilia, or, simply, add memories of a band’s music when you’re able to access every detail about the group and its musicians?
DYSBANDED’s “Bitter” is music made by veteran punk musicians obsessed with L.A. hard-rock, with resonant guitar sounds and over-the-top confidence. DYSBANDED is also a band that knows the value in undersharing. If this feels like the kind of music you might have gotten to know when someone slipped you an unmarked cassette, that’s on purpose. What’s good rock music when you know every detail about it?
