Hotly tipped for 2008 yet having spent a longtime bubbling under the surfaces of the Nu-Rave current, These New Puritans finally get around to releasing their debut album.
Well known for their soundtracking of fashion shows, These New Puritans usher in Beat Pyramid with a dose of trademark pretension in the form of a two part track, 'I Will Say This Twice', which bookends the album. Indeed looking through the tracklisting and artwork quickly reveals a band that may be trying just a little too had to carve out an image.
Still, never judge a book: Beat Pyramid is a good effort. Early tracks 'Numerology' and 'Colours' feature the trademark angular guitars but the switches and cuts into a more melodic bridge in each track lifts these efforts into something more worthwhile.
More exciting are the floaty 'En Papier' and the just re-released but almost-as-old-as-old-rave 'Elvis'. The former manages to add to IDM clicks and distortion and a dash of post-rock melancholy to the proceedings whilst the latter is simply a clattering cacophony or a record, the juxtaposition of the incessant spoken vocal component to the more reflective breakdown creates a real highlight. It is always the more reflective moments that get closest to greatness - see 'Mkk3' for example.
What this demonstrates is either a band that are trying too hard, unable to concentrate on creating a consistently great record due to all the time spent worrying over details, or simply an average band that got lucky in a couple of places. BlackPlastic hopes this is a case of the former but there is still much to play for.
BP x