Avant!

Ive been talking to Andrea over at AVANT! Records, a vinyl label based in Italy. They are relatively new, focusing primarily on post-punk and wave-ish stuff. My interest was fully arrested when I went to the Bandcamp page and saw that a previous Cult Of Youth release was put out by AVANT!, and seeing as Im a COY devotee I delved deeper into their wares. Their last three releases are very interesting.

Contrepoison's Until Next Morning 12" EP is four songs of droning, depressing synth thrown out of whack by the out of tune, off-kilter vocals. Seeings as Contrepoison means antidote in French, then perhaps this is the counterpoint to love - the album to drag you off your heady highs into the heartless darkness?

Contrepoison - To Never, Forever

Lust For Youth is a Swedish duo that dole out a more industrial synth drone, and their album Solar Flare offers twelve tracks of it. The great thing about these songs though is the pop sensibility hiding underneath the static and murk - these are catchy songs, despite the dark hues they are painted with. Think along the lines of a less refined Fuck Buttons and you are getting on the right track. This album really appealed to me after I peeled back the layers.

Lust For Youth - Dreams

Finally we have Scorpion Violente. Ill let the press from AVANT! fill you in on what's in store... "A gay beast from France obsessed with trash electronics and bad sexual habits. Eight long tracks of a sort of sick mix between Giorgio Moroder italo disco and the paranoid minimal wave by Suicide and Cabaret Voltaire." Its funny, because its not as disturbing as that first makes it out to be. Oh, its still pretty twisted, but these beats-infused numbers are damn catchy, and will lurk around your mind for some time - if you can get rid of them at all. Bonus points for a track called 'Christopher Walken' too.

Scorpion Violente - Viol Et Revanche

Expect to hear a lot from AVANT! on Sonic Masala over the next few months. If you like any/all of these releases, you can purchase em here!