We’ve talked a few times about the strong run of sets from legacy acts we’ve caught over the last year, and are looking to keep that going when the likes of The Chameleons, Sparks, and Lene Lovich all come through Vancouver in the next few weeks. We’ll always do our level best to check out exciting new stuff, whether it’s touring or from our own back yard, but every now and again it feels nice to hear a catalogue you know like the back of your hand done well. Fingers crossed for those throwback shows, but it’s all new stuff in this week’s Tracks.
Home Front don’t front
Home Front, “Light Sleeper”
Edmonton’s Home Front were a welcome left-field addition to the 2023 edition of Terminus Festival, with their blend of melancholy new wave and Second Empire Justice-styled anthems bringing a refreshing spirit and vitae to an often unremittingly dour post-punk scene. Their forthcoming Watch It Die LP is being preceded by this rousing number which somehow manages to make checking in on one’s own mental health feel like the most epic victory anyone could ever manage. “We’re born alone, we die alone / Don’t ever think you have to
live alone” – something a lot of us probably need to be reminded of this year.
Ascii.Disko, “Moshphit Poetry”
Truth be told, it’s been a minute since we checked out new material from Ascii.Disko, the long-running electro project of Daniel Holc. From the stage of the very first Kinetik Festival to the intriguing new wave Black Orchid side project, Ascii.Disko’s toured through some diverse terrain but Holc looks to be returning to his roots with Moshpit Poetry, introduced at potentially the last Ascii.Disko LP. A cut like the title track has all of the EBM-friendly, woozy electro A.D’s early releases were known for, now with the odd vertigo of hearing how some club tastes have circled back around to something very close to Holc’s original blueprint.
Spammerheads, “Shocking Days”
Spanish EBM act Spammerhead’s soon to be released album The Mire Chronicles has a pretty literal name; the band lost their studio due to flooding in their hometown of Valencia, and spent the better part of a year assisting in the clean up efforts. While no doubt a difficult time for the duo, the experience has informed the group’s new work, bringing themes of solidarity in the face of hardship, community action and resistance to despair in the face of tragedy to their particular take on neo-old school EBM. Check this one out if you’re a fan of contemporary Portion Control for sure.
Isaac Howlett, “Eggshells”
Empathy Test’s Isaac Howlett has been putting in work as a solo act, diverging from the lush electropop of that project into more fraught and oddly soulful territory. Hear new single “Eggshells”, where co-production from Daniel Myer mixes with a particularly fragile vocal for a striking effect; Howlett has always been a confident performer on the mic, but the push into a more tenorous range brings the song an especially vulnerable and delicate sensibility. Not what you might be expecting, in the good way.
Damascus Knives, “My Body is a Temple, My Sound Matters Most”
A side project of Cervello Elettronico’s David Christian, Damascus Knives has has a smattering of releases and single tracks emerge over the past six years which have brought into focus the project’s laid back but slightly occult-leaning read on EBM, darkwave, and techno. A Catching Up With styled release on Rustblade, The First Cuts brings together a slew of that work and tacks on a couple of hitherto unreleased numbers, like this one which brings Geography-era 242 into a modern chillout room.
Fractions, “Bang the Drum (Original Mix)”
Czech electronic act Fractions first came to our attention during the techno-industrial boom, and have stayed on our radar by both the careful avoidance of genre cliches, and some particularly fun creative choices they’ve pursued in recent years. Check “Bang the Drum” the first track from their Post Club EP, a fast-moving song that recalls both millennial futurepop, a lil’ electroclash and some modern techno in it’s programming and melodies. Real fun stuff, easy to listen and dance to.
