A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
The searing guitar of Oliver Ackermann on ‘Disgust’ announces the return of New York’s noise master’s with their latest offering Synthesizer. Promptly joined by founding member and compatriot in chaos, John Fedowitz as his bass feverishly chases after Ackermann. Mediating the pair is Sandra Fedowitz with her frenetic drumming clutching at the duelling duo. A remorseful recollection of confusing infatuation masked by lust and ensuing disintegration of self and dignity.
The disconnected drumming of Fedowitz on ‘Don’t Be Sorry’ acts as a cushioning force. Buffeting the stonking track and its rhythmic punctuation as fx pedals groan under the stomping weight of abrupt blows with jarring breaks smashed against a whining guitar loop. A pulsating descent into darkness, ‘Fear of Transformation’ begins with an ominous drumbeat as fizzes of electronica collide with feedback loops and shadowy vocals before a cacophony of sound staggers uncontrollably toward an exit. From chaos to order, the more formulaic ‘Join The Crowd’ takes a simple repeating guitar loop and lays over it, Ackermann’s vocals as he makes an encouraging plea to do it and do it now.
Arguably one of the greatest live bands in the world, the sheer energy, destructive power and impassioned performances are world renowned. Crafted from hard graft and road-tested material, some tracks develop over a number of years. Case in point, ‘Bad Idea’ under a thick level of haze and reverb, it doesn’t take much effort to imagine the smoke and strobe of a live set that makes for a saturating and immersive performance between band and audience.
Veering into new wave territory, ‘You Got Me’ hears a lighter vocal delivery by Ackermann as the rolling 808 beat and snare claps firm up the oscillating track. A suitably darker take to what could have easily been a bad batch of nostalgia and reinvention cooked up by the trio. Like its namesake, ‘It’s Too Much’ is a disorientating brew with an intoxicated Ackermann bending under the strain of it all as the swirling, fuzzed out guitar loops, and clipped beats sap what remaining strength there was to withstand the hedonistic self-affliction.
A dislocation between love, self and the future, the bleak but earnest assessment on ‘Plastic Future’ with the high electric bass of Fedowitz set against Ackermann’s angular guitar as the two are mediated by the steady and blistering pace of Fedowitz’s drumming. Continuing the theme, both musically and notionally, ‘Have You Ever Been In Love’ see’s the three running at breakneck speed, each jostling in their respective lanes, all chasing the illusive concept of relational harmony into a land of chaos, marred by past and present, it is a wild ride that takes the marathon performance to its sweaty and exhausted conclusion.
In the demented house of APTBS a protracted synth underlay with twisted angelic harmonies and banshee like whaling is buried in sedimentary tiers of reverb rich guitar as the lamenting ‘Comfort Never Comes’ grapples with the unassailable. At best managing emotions and at worst an unrelenting torment of regret and remorse, the agonised disconnect is exquisitely cradled in this sprawling and darkly beautiful track. A more than fitting finale as the masters of noise demonstrate yet again their finesse in sonics and sentiment.
