It Doubles

It Records has two great new releases to announce (after the excellent 1, the album from Taipan Tiger Girls that I wrote about here). First up is power doom electronic duo Armour Group. Their LP Purge (jointly released by Trait Records) promises to be a punishing listen if the title track is anything to go by. Four minutes of pounding percussion, distorted loudspeaker spittle sermonizing, a looped sample of someone stating that to psychologically advance he must purge himself... Obsessed with the darker proclivities of human desire, Purge is nihilistic, obliterating, devastating.

Secondly there is the announcement that gothic electronic act Mollusc is also joining the fold. The duo have just released this tape as a precursor of a new effort. The six tracks here interlace to create a soundscape of domination, electronic vice and gloss veneer with a seedy underside. In short, it's the kind of gritty goth post-punk that should score a 21st remake of Cherry 2000 directed by Kathryn Bigelow (and if you don't know what I'm talking about, head here and sort out your lack of Melanie Griffiths knowledge stat).

Hellish Highlife Made

I have to say I am a little confused by Making... I was pretty sure the Sydney trio were breaking up. But seems I was (thankfully) entirely wrong, as they release their new LP Highlife next month through Trait Records. I have been a fan of theirs since hearing their excellent self titled EP and this lives up to the long expectations. The first track that really grabs me is the fourth track on the album, 'Come To Me' - it has that My Disco brooding pendulum rhythm and clipped/barked monosyllabic vocal approach, but then it explodes into something altogether more gnarled and corrosive. 'Zs' also fits into this vein, although there is a heavier metallic expulsion here that pushes them into noisier terrain. 'Dream Job' lurches forth, a metallic monster, deliberately unsettled and unsettling, serrated and scabrous, forcing the bile into the back of the throat. Then 'Amazon' has a more sinuous groove inherent, something Battles might produce without all the theatrics; 'Pascal' has moments of reflection in the middle third that allows for the pummelling bookends to smash forth with more controlled venom; and the psychotropic freneticism of the closing title track is the weirdest yet most cathartic song on the album. It does take the foot off the neck a bit, so to speak, and it is essentially what enlivens Highlife and makes those moments of black tension and white-hot release so potent. The production is powerful and precise too, thanks to Ivan Lisyak (Narrow Lands, Tanned Christ) and Lawrence English.


Preorder Highlife here - it's a corker. Making hit the road in Australia to launch the album on these dates (which also features Sonic Masala Records band Danyl Jesu in the mix!):

5th September - Crowbar Brisbane

w/Sewers, Danyl Jesu vs Pale Earth + Nature Trails 

11th September - Black Wire Records, Sydney 

w/Marcus Whale (LIVE), Mere Women + BV (connect the dots)

12th September - The Public Bar, Melbourne 

w/Diecut, CAMP COPE + JAALA