LESS ART- Strangled Light
Oh man, should this be right up my street. Members of Thrice, Curl Up and Die and Kowloon Walled City writing gritty post-hardcore songs about loss and loathing isn’t far away from what would happen if someone told me to construct a new band, fantasy football style, from my record collection. ‘Strangled Light’ though, is such a stark and spidery record that it’s incredibly difficult to love. Maybe that’s the point, maybe the bleak “fuck it all” lyrics are built to challenge and the jarring guitars and odd tempos are designed to unsettle. But I’m not sure ‘Strangled Light’ is that calculated. I think Mike Minnick, swapping the roared vocals he employed in Curl Up and Die for a world-weary bark, is working through some serious shit in a seriously shitty world and the band have built a raw, downbeat soundtrack to match. Look, I’m a premier league Debbie fucking Downer but as much as ‘Strangled Light’ is expertly played, it’s like listening to an open wound.
