BNLX
LP
Susstones
At last, some meaty post-punk power pop to fill my ear buds. This DIY Midwestern collective harvests the best sounds of Joy Division, The Smiths, and all those other glorious droning power hitters from the last century. “Vibrant” is the potential hit here: urgent guitars, fuzzed up synths, and drum machines ride under the lovesick vocals. I can see them all now: only black clothes and a touch of runny eyeliner just for fun. Other songs are really just as good. “1929” exploits the same musical layering as “Vibrant” with an added key changing chorus. “Devil You Know” leaves that slickness behind and it’s where the post-punk label arises with a simple melody, straight-ahead drumming, and a race between guitars and vocals to the end of the cut.
It lacks the anger and fire of pre-punk and avoids the snotty insider lingo of mid-punk, thus it must be post-punk. Just a note for the record collector: the track “999” has nothing to do with that old Brit punk band; it’s more a mic check warm-up thing. There’s lots more cleverly arranged sound on this full album. It’s a delightful listen and represents the band’s step up from occasional EPs to a full-length collection.
BNLX: http://bnlx2day.com • http://www.facebook.com/bnlxmusic
