E.T.
Full Anarchism
self-released
ID3 tagging their latest work as Egalitarianism Today (much like early Foetus records the literal name always changes even if the brand doesn’t), Minneapolis synthpunk duo E.T.’s new LP is a direct and refreshingly irony-free statement of irritation and rage at the current state of things from, as the title not-so-subtly hints, an anarchist perspective. Putting out records since 2018’s fantastically titled Phone Homo‘s given them a sense of confidence and purpose both thematically and musically which pays off well, with their rough and tumble production style takes precedence over specific sub-genres and styles here. The scrapy programming and muffled bass of “Bow Down” feel in-line with “Larva Leaks”‘ over-caffeinated kicks, even though the former is structured far more like a modern TBM banger than the latter’s more classic approach to jumped-up synthpunk. Most of the lyrics do a solid job of framing E.T.’s critique as a matter of personal feeling and larger historical truth, while “Someone Else” interrogates the ways in which capitalism makes each of us small cogs in its larger death engine. Those themes are bracketed with a mix of samples left as voice-mail styled bumpers; in addition to the usual suspects like The Fly, Aliens, and Terminator 2, you’ve also got BLM activists, Reservation Dogs and the immortal Ursula K LeGuin popping in to drop bombs. Solid stuff from the liminal edge between all our dystopic todays and tomorrows.
Nuxx
Bird Brain EP
Synthicide
As noted in the bandcamp liners, NYC electronic artist Nuxx’s new EP for Synthicide Bird Brain is all about reinvention. Aside from shortening the project’s name from Nuxx Vomica, the five whipsmart tracks here are louder and more compact than they’ve ever been before, and find Nuxx stepping out from the layers of reverb and disaffection in her delivery to stand directly in the spotlight. Musically the songs find a bracingly uneasy middle ground between rapidfire half-shouted, half-rapped delivery, raw electro and chopped up rave synths and breaks with results both hypnotic and menacing. The atonal groove of “Break Me” screeches and squelches but is instantly tamed by Nuxx’s bitten-off “I don’t care/I like it” vocal chant, while opener “Bad” finds her riding a raunchy bassline into the ground, acting as her own hypeman, tossing off distorted ad libs while sirens wail around her. The songs are short and sharp by design, allowing for “Done”‘s litany of sick-of-this-shit complaints to land at high impact speeds even before the distorted screeches crash into the mix – just like the refrain on the title track lets you know, Nuxx isn’t fucking around.
