Posts Tagged ‘Radio 4’

Real Teeth – Drive By Argument

Posted: 3 April 2023 in Singles and EPs
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6th February 2023

Christopher Nosnibor

I miss 2005. It might sound crass or lame, but I really do. Sure, I miss being in my twenties, and I miss not having the responsibilities I have now and I miss still studying and I miss being as alert and edgy, but more than anything I miss the sense of life and future that 2005 offered. Musically, it was a good – exciting – time with a new wave of post-punk influenced bands coming through. Interpol dropped Antics in 2004 and Editors began to break in 2005, and there was a real groundswell of excitement around the new-wave renaissance as spearheaded by bands who really channelled a certain Joy Division-inspired darkness.

With ‘Drive By Argument’, Real Teeth capture that spring of excitement, but without sounding nostalgic. It may seem a contradiction, but then, that was how it was in 2005, too. The emerging bands drew on the past, but didn’t sound like they were trying to recreate it. And the same is true of Real Teeth.

The single is accompanied by ‘a collage video from short clips of dash-cam footage of London from 1999’, and that’s probably more nostalgia-laden than the song itself.

But, propelled by a rhythm that’s packed with stuttering fills, a groove-driven bass and choppy guitars, it’s got a lot going on, with nods to Radio 4 and Gang of Four thrust to the fore in what is a busy and multi-layered cut. With a vital energy and dynamism, not to mention some well-placed changes in tempo and tone, ‘Drive By Argument’ is straightforward on the surface but has more going on underneath, and is worth taking some time to chew on.

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muet – muet

Posted: 8 April 2019 in Albums
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Metropolis Records – 22 March 2019

So often, less is more. All we know if muet is that ‘muet is the sound of American noir. Sonically defiant art rock sung under the shadow of a long brim hat. Deliberate dissonance and heartbreaking melody are stitched together beneath sodium light with tales of the tragic, the romantic, and the bizarre. The band features Steven Seibold, Daniel Evans and Vince Mcaley, who have all enjoyed moderate success in various post-industrial and punk bands. based out of Chicago’.

I may have mentioned before that I broke free of mainstream music by route of 80s goth, so I have something of an appreciation of hats. Actually, that’s something of an understatement, as I’ve been an avid hat-wearer for large portions of the last 27 years. Muet is the sound of doomed romanticism and hat-wearing, a meshing of the gothier end of the post-punk spectrum with more contemporary takes on the same: because for all of the referencing and influence, the likes of Interpol and She Wants Revenge very much filter the past through a post-millennial lens.

The album’s first chord is a single, echoing strike that could almost be a sample of the opening note on ‘Marian’ by The Sisters of Mercy, and then a mechanoid drum and solid , square bass groove rumbles in, holding down that c.85 Sisters vibe… but the nagging, trebly guitar that chops in is more Gang of 4 via Radio 4 ‘Leather Jacket Perfume.’

There’s a heavy sleaze vibe that permeates every aspect of the album, with song titles like the aforementioned ‘Leather Jacket Perfume’, ‘Weirdest Sex’, ‘Her Dad’s Car’, and ‘Muscle’, but there’s equally a considerable amount of brooding and melancholy, conveyed by atmospheric, echo-drenched, minor-key guitars picked and spun.

‘Reach out and Murder’ features some wild, bending post-punk guitar and a thunderous rhythm section and kicks out a riff reminiscent of Department S’ ‘Is Vic There?’, whole the chorus has something of a Cooper Temple Clause feel. ‘on2u’ combines swagger and groove with a dash of early 90s Mission wrapped in a haze of psychedelia

One thing that comes across strongly is the emotional depth ploughed into each of the songs. Yes, there’s an element of stylisation which is part and parcel of the genre form, but there’s a conviction that resonates and it’s unmistakeably genuine. Moreover, muet has range, and doesn’t focus excessively on any one theme or mood, while maintaining a stylistic cohesion. It’s a proper album, and a damn fine one at that.

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