Ponzi Scheme
self-titled
self-released
Australian trio Ponzi Scheme have a pretty dialed-in take on post-punk and darkwave that sidesteps the stylistic trap many artists in those styles find themselves in through the application of dirt and muscle. All the standard elements of modern dark alternative are present on their new self-titled EP, but there’s simply a lot more grit in how they’re applied. Check “Make It Happen”, a fast-moving bass guitar driven workout that gets progressively more manic and sharp-edged with each passing bar, vocalist Vienna LaPalma McVernon flexing both her high-pitched screech and full-bodied croon while peels of guitar, reverb, glitchy textures and rusty cymbals bounce off each other. Alternately, “Knock Knock” is a take on dance-punk that has all the requisite sneering attitude and funky rhythms, but is lathered in opaque reverb and crunchy percussion, making it all the more nightmarish. Closer “Nightcrawler” bookends the EP with hooks that are amongst the band’s nastiest and most catchy; McVernon screams, synths wail, guitars are strangled and drum hits are pitched up and down with seasick abandon. It’s a funhouse mirror of a lot of the least interesting styles present in Our Thing, and we’re definitely ready for more.
Absolute Form
Form & Function
Jinglhaus Records
Indianapolis newcomers Absolute Form don’t play it coy on their debut EP Form & Function: their blunt read on EBM eschews subtlety for the sake of stripped-down, direct bangers which neither seek to make a virtue of low-fi noise nor blur things with too much polish. Still, there’s enough energy and personality here to establish a clear identity for the act. There are certainly a lot of the metallic-shaded arpeggios and kicks we associate with the last decade of techno body music (and by extension Europe more than North America) on Form & Function, but depending on how you squint at the bass programming on a track like “Function” it’s possible to hear any number of 90s expressions of pure EBM distilled from entirely within the industrial scene. Similarly, the smatter of orch hits which kick about the spidery funk of “Repetition” serve to link classic Wax Trax joints a la PTP to modern dancefloors where producers like Alen Skanner hold sway. Sniffing out the specific provenance of Absolute Form’s influence’s isn’t required to meet these tracks at their level, though, and as a plainly barked statement arrival it grabs attention.
