There’s a warped twinkle in the eye at play with a band who name themselves after a died-too-young trash-bag and indulge in some junk-food crushing for the cover of their debut album. It’s a little harder to find this black humour within the doom-laden music itself, as the band lures the listener into a cold, cruel world of cheating, scheming and excess. True to the story of Anna Nicole Smith, there are no happy endings being promised here.
A Heart Of Glass opening tricks you into a disco-pop scenario, but SE Fwy Dandenong is a sinister, pounding trip into darkness. The sense of paranoia and claustrophobia continues in the follow-up track, the motorik-fueled I Don’t Believe In My Love Calculator. Melissa D’Or’s pleading lyric “Are you my true love?” would sound romantic if it wasn’t shrouded in ghostly effects and followed by an anxious “When will I die?”. Death and despair are ever-present and make a good match for the music; for example, “Just like that, we reach our useful date” sounds quite right nestled against the gloomy goth-rock of Chilli.
Producer (and drummer) Simon Castricum confidently keeps things in check. Naturally there’s a bias for the unremitting beats, but it’s a slicker, more balanced recording than his previous work as Fluorescent. The album gets better as it goes along, peaking with an otherworldly title track and the carnivalesque grind of The Infinite Horse. The band have yet to forge a clear identity, unlike a similar sounding, more established synth-rock act like HTRK, but there’s a clear union of fiery frisson here and it’s fascinating to listen to them feel their way through the darkness.
BY CHRIS GIRDLER
Best Track: Twinkie
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: Conatus ZOLA JESUS, Sister SONIC YOUTH
In A Word: Appetising
