Artists: Antenna Trash
Title: DED Comes For DED
Genre: Electro / Indie / Post-Punk / Funk
Release Date: 30th January 2011
Label: Self-Release
Album Review
How to describe something that has no shape; that is organic, reinventing oneself every second? How to reach something, that slips away before you can grab it, just for appearing right at your back? How to call something with 1000 faces and no name? That´s how I felt while listening to ‘DED comes for DED’ by the Italian outfit ANTENNA TRASH. I have to confess that I didn’t heard about them before, what is no crime (up to now), cause the band was born just three years ago, gaining it´s spurs by playing countless shows all over Italy (so they opened for renowned acts like Underworld or the Stereo MC´s). The current 4-Track EP is their first output so far and concerning to its content I´m sure, that the story has just begun...
The first track ‘Fill Every Corner’ cuts straight right to the chase of the matter. It acts like a rebelling toy, attacking you with nasty guitars, biting and drilling synth noises, that seem to originate from a vintage computer game, backed by pumping drum beats, that smear up the rifts and crevasses between punk and dance, art-rock and dub. The vocals by Sebastiano Meneghini sound (congruously) like a revolting and grouching child that even has set on fire in its nursery. The whole atmosphere oscillates between hypnotic numbness and epileptic restlessness, spinning you around with no regard for where to land. ‘Nuclear Sand’, the 2nd one, picks you up with no moment for resting, is marching on with the same feeling of nervousness caused by machine-like tumbling drums, sawing guitars and distorted vocals, just to step aside for entering the melodic spheres of the bands musical playground. Like a mantra the tunes and noises build patterns and colours, forming circles and slipstreams, cracked up with interferences and flashes of noise for orbiting the path, paved by a great melodic bass-line and the voices metrics.
At the latest from that point you know, that it is impossible to foresee what will come next. The bands lucid drive takes you where it wants, juggling with genres and stylistics and the only certainty is, that all is uncertain. ‘Magnets’ hits the jackpot with getting my favourite track. Gentle, wavelike basses breaking at the shores of melancholic sparkling tunes, crowded by Sebastiano’s vocals, that seem (in contradiction to the previous tracks) to be filled with a smooth yearning, an emotional release (finding in my mind parallels to the voice of Luke Steele in some way). And meanwhile flickering guitars crossing the welkin you become overthrown by the next atmospheric sidestep, a shaking up by a threatening guitar outro. It´s just pure joy to follow! ‘Law’ brings us back again to the rhythm-orientated straightness of the records beginning. Stomping beats, funky shaded guitars, sci-fi synths and dotted vocals, which unite all to a hymn-like dress, a perfect outfit for the travels finish...
So let’s outline my valuation with a quote from the records last track: “ In the middle of the ocean You cannot break the law...”. Making a mental note of that, it seems that ANTENNA TRASH have written all their songs right in the middle of a borderless sea, their naughty playing with genres, their ignoring of borders and constants make their sound exciting and unexpected. No tune and no turn seem to be predictable. They jump back and forth from dance to post-punk, splash shades of electro and funk on the canvas, set it alight with artistic ambitions for extinguishing it with their joy of playing. It’s all not the lightest fare and some of the cracks and sidesteps seem to irritate and diverge the flow of the music, but the journey is its own reward and they do it pretty well! A challenge for minds and ears, which are looking for a acoustic adventure trip...
Post Scriptum: The records title ‘DED comes for DED’ stems from a fictive IGGY POP album, singer Sebastiano once dreamed of! There’s nothing to add...
Tracklist
01. Fill Every Corner
02. Nuclear Sand
03. Magnets
04. Law
Line-up
Sebastiano Meneghini - Vocals, Guitar, Percussion
Marco Menegazzi - Bass, Vocals
Alessandro Monaco - Synthesizer, Groovebox, Vocals, Noises
Alberto Casagrande - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
Websites
www.myspace.com/antennatrash
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10
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