Decibels. Decibels. Decibels. Drum skins pounding, sharp dissonant guitar riffs, haunting bass lines and the mental drivel of Billy Mason-Wood is the ingredients of Blacklisters’ debut album ‘BLKLSTRS’ on which the band make every single decibel count. Inducing tinnitus since 2008, the Leeds quattuor have been improving their game by playing shows alongside Rolo Tomassi, Kong and their compatriots Pulled Apart By Horses. In fact, they all seem to share the same objective: sonically murder the audience (in a good way).
‘BLKLSTRS’ allows for no compromise and, as such, immediately kicks in with ‘Clubfoot By Kasabian’: a thumping romp of a track that flirts with Pulled Apart By Horses territory but with Mason-Wood’s distinctively creepy shrieks and moans. ‘Nice Garden’ is a great example of what the band are about, Griffith’s drooling bassline carries the equally drooping vocals with the drums and guitar unleashing a cataclysm of noise at intervals. The song’s outro is an absolute amp-breaker and showcases the band at their best.
Humoristic titles aside, ‘I Can Confirm That Ruth Abigail Holmes Is Not Dead and Is Planning To Make a Movie About Her Life’ sees the band play around with some mathy rhythms but swiftly swerve back into their comfort zone of ‘apocalypse noise’. ‘Of China’ starts off as a spectacular sprint of guitar and continues in breathless fashion as it alternates between hypnotizing sections, all-out wall-of-sound and staccato guitar attacks.
But Blacklisters aren’t only aggressivity, as they prove on final track ‘Shush’ in which they experiment with the concept of a pace slower than “speeding train”. While it is arguably a slow-burner, the band’s particular brand of nervy hardcore-garage rock is still perceivable and the instruments are finally given some space to breathe in the second half of the song.
‘BLKLSTRS’ is an album that strives on immediacy. The urgent doom-filled anger injected into every single track combined with the explosive quality of the instrumentals make for a powerful and, at times, downright frightening listen, but it’s also the proof of a band who have achieved a distinctive sound and a compelling album. The ears of this writer, however, will need a little tending to before he review anything else.
4/5
‘BLKLSTRS’ by Blacklisters is available now on Brew Records.
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Words by James Berclaz-Lewis
