Elements of their interest in electronics and punk are present, yet they have carved something truly original and incredibly intense. In a world that seems to have lost all sense of sanity, this album is a savage soundtrack to a considered and cruel demise.
At the razor’s edge of expression
Glasgow has music in its bones. Scotland’s largest city consistently punches above its weight when it comes to its audio output, arguably even more so when it comes to the avant-garde. Kübler-Ross, a triumvirate of mechanic punks, are at the razor’s edge of expression; splicing a frigid wave estrangement with basement band rawness. Their first album was originally released as a tape on Akashic Records, it is now receiving the full vinyl treatment on Solvent’s Ice Machine.
“Koss” introduces the LP. A pain-streaked piece, the opener mixes cold spoken-word with a driving melody and punishing percussion. Pain and punishment are tropes of this record. “Go On Your Way” screams a message of anguish against angular synth stabs and racing rhythms. “Clean Me” broods with a similarly unsettling torment. Encircling and ensnaring loops fasten themselves around jagged words in a haunting, violent and unnerving work. The A-Side is a shade brighter than its sibling, although dehumanisation is never far from the microphone. “Bridges” is a city tale, a lilting playful synth arrangement marching to vocals of acceptance and alienation. Lyrics are never stable on the LP. They drift from female to male, close to distant, and are staunchly formidable. Voice is side-lined with “The Ball and The Box.” An incising beat bites fiercely into a bobbing bassline. The focal point here is the machine, clanking, clattering and crunching as cast iron rhythms rust.
Clanking, clattering and crunching as cast iron rhythms rust ::
As the record progresses, the psychological probes pierce ever further. “Daria” is born in a din of distortion and contorted vocal cords. Analogue agony finally breaks to a refuge of string and snare in this tortured work. Tones and shades grow ever darker as Kübler-Ross lead you through their charred earth of broken hopes and shattered glass. “Jumping Bluevale” collects an aggressive assortment of askew strings that are kept in check by wet rasping drum patterns. The finale comes in the screech and stench of “You’re Ruining Yourself.” Guttural vocals shriek of butchery and brutality, bile spilling to the floor next a mutated cowbell in a swamp of sorrow.
Kübler-Ross is a superbly fierce collection. What the trio of Craig Clark, Dave Clark and Katie Shannon have created cuts straight to the bone. Elements of their interest in electronics and punk are present, yet they have carved something truly original and incredibly intense. In a world that seems to have lost all sense of sanity, this album is a savage soundtrack to a considered and cruel demise.
Kübler-Ross is available on Ice Machine. [Bandcamp]
