Post Punk seems to have become a totally meaningless catch all label as we make our way to the mid point of 2023. Tracy Denim, the third album in all from London's bar italia, and their first for the distinguished Matador label was described by the NME as Post Punk. It may well be, but I'd like to see the definition they're attaching for this judgement because I don't get it anymore. It just strikes me as laziness.
Whether it's a Post Punk record or not, and I'm not sure why it should be, it's a fascinating one. It reminded me of a number of things and none of them were The Fall, Gang of Four or Joy Division. This is far more difficult to define and all the better for that. The songs throughout are dense, fractured and broken up, melancholy and slightly druggy. That strikes me as an excellent recipe for repeat play.
bar italia have female and male vocalists whose voices intertwine, clash and mesh. Their voices drawls all over the bands jagged, freeform textures and collages. He swoons like Robert Smith, (OK a Post Punk connection, there are others, serrated PiL guitar and so on), but also Damon Albarn. her voice, and the way it collides with his, actually reminded me of Senser, the Post Rave London band who always seemed to flirt with danger and evoked their angry times before Brit Pop arrived to take us back to the Sixties where we'd all been safe.
So Post Punk is not a label that makes any sense to me in this case. bar italia are far too smart to allow themselves to be stamped so brazenly on the forehand by the man. The record has a claustrophobia and woosiness that is closer in spirit to Bummed, Loveless, Maxinquaye or Blur than it is to Unknown Pleasures, Dragnet or Entertainment. It's splendid and strikes me as a keeper.
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