Pound Land: Singles Membership

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Manchester’s Pound Land gather their singles and B-sides into one noisy, totally filthy DIY punk album. Andy Brown critiques Singles Membership for Louder Than Conflict.

Everybody likes a discount and just like the low cost excessive avenue store that the band has pilfered their title from (albeit stylised otherwise to keep away from client confusion), Pound Land actually does give the discerning punk fan worth for cash. Singles Membership collects six of the Manchester band’s singles into one satisfyingly noisy and fairly priced DIY punk album. Akin to discovering out that the Toblerones are on two-for-one, the singles are offered alongside their accompanying B-sides. Get your self comfy, it’s time to stuff your face. Gorge on the band’s lo-fi storytelling and feast on their pockmarked punk. This isn’t the punk of spirited sing-alongs and disaffected anthems although; Singles Membership is a far darker and far stranger affair. Don’t be misled by the ‘singles’ tag both because the songs listed below are unlikely to soundtrack a Match Of The Day montage.

Crack Home is pushed by a murderously sluggish, Tracy Pew-worthy bass line and a wall of closely distorted guitar and electronics. Combine in some sludgy saxophone and an environment so menacing you’d cross the highway in case you noticed it coming and also you’re onto a winner. A sound so infested with filth that you simply’re going to want a bathe when it’s over. Good. Nicely, not good precisely however very, excellent. Semi Indifferent places slightly dub within the combine alongside some gloomy, spoken-word vocals. It’s an early heads-up that Pound Land isn’t the type of band you possibly can second-guess. The band was fashioned in 2020 by Adam Stone (Future Bomb/ collaborator with Manchester drone giants Useless Sea Apes) and multi-instrumentalist Nick Harris (Reverends of Destruction/ ex-Useless Sea Apes). Singles Membership ransacks their superbly warped brains and comes again with an odd and defiantly uncommercial sound.

Liar is a scratchy, punky racket that sounds prefer it was recorded on a cassette earlier than the recording was dragged backward by way of a mud-sodden discipline. Towards the tip, Jo Stone’s frenzied sax solo hurls another handful of filth on the tune for good measure. And that was the one! The B-side, Macclesfield, is a splendidly moody slab of lo-fi, Arab Strap-esque distress. “Why do the birds hassle with this place?” Adam wonders aloud, “They’re free to fly away/ It doesn’t value something.” Hopelessness and claustrophobia in a city he can’t escape. The best soundtrack to this yr’s impressively moist summer time and one in every of my favorite tracks on the album. I do love a chirpy little tune. As The Recreation Stays The Similar (Single Combine) so succinctly places it, “Canine eat canine/ Eat canine/ Eat canine/ Everyone seems to be screwed.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akNdyZBZguk

In addition to having a title that made me chuckle, Vape Squad is a brilliantly murky, dub-inflected slice of sleaze. The vocals (and darkly humorous narrative) make it really feel like a League Of Gents sketch that’s been remixed into the weirdest, after-hours dub you’ve ever heard. Appearances on Sunday Brunch appear unlikely at this level. Bullshitters deploys a venomous, Lydon-esque snarl and delivers one of many album’s most visceral tunes. “Pretending you’re on the fucking Apprentice” spews Adam in warbling, disgusted tones, “Spending 1000’s on the fucking dentist.” It’s a banger! Typically you simply can’t beat a propulsive tune and an enormous rant. Tripods mixes a dirty digital soundscape with a faintly apocalyptic, but oddly plausible story of ominous tripods and disillusioned locals. Pound Land utilises a barely unnerving mixture of humour, noise and absurdity that works a deal with.

Clear Up is sparse and foreboding because it paints a scene with out-of-date haemorrhoid ointment, damaged toenail clippers and a wine-stained copy of Resident Evil 2. It might very effectively be one of many least motivating ‘clear up’ songs I’ve ever heard however it’s completely good nonetheless. I’ll clear up tomorrow. Promise. Drained is a juddering, almost-ambient digital providing. Visitor vocals from Hannah Grasskamp add to the ethereal, subtly unsettling temper. Relaxation assured, the whole lot on Singles Membership is roofed with a tangible layer of sonic filth. Mind Driver (ROD Single Combine) will get inside your noggin with brain-rattling industrial beats and a nauseous, insistent throb. Noise is one thing of an artwork type and Pound Land has it nailed. Hypnagogia is a jittery, digital oddity with murmured vocals and a way that the band is about to move out, exhausted on the closest couch.

Typically Singles Membership seems like a wierd, spoken-word experiment with dub and digital accompaniment. At different occasions it seems like somebody’s enjoying The Stooge’s Enjoyable Home on the fallacious velocity. It seems like an album made by individuals who actually don’t care what you suppose. For the document, I feel it’s an eccentric, darkish and terrifically twisted tackle punk. It’s getting tougher to choose up a real discount however Pound Land is clearly spoiling us rotten with Singles Membership.

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Discover Pound Land on Bandcamp, Instagram and YouTube.

Purchase Singles Membership on cassette from Merciless Nature Information HERE.

All phrases by Andy Brown. You possibly can go to his creator profile and browse extra of his critiques for Louder Than Conflict right here.