These New Puritans - Hidden

These New Puritans
Hidden
Domino Records

While These New Puritans claim to be anti-avant garde, it all sounds like a bit of a surrealist joke when considering the elements found on their sophomore effort: beats inspired by Britney Spears, Japanese percussion, brass and woodwind ensembles, a children’s choir, and the smashing of a melon covered in cream crackers in order to simulate the sound of someone’s head being smashed in. Hidden is a jarring commentary on the contrast of that which is natural and that which is synthetic that is far more in-line with Lynch’s Eraserhead than any musical scene. At times the band echoes of Killing Joke’s brand of Post Punk, but where Killing Joke relied on a sort of chaos, These New Puritans are driven by a precision in musical poaching and reconstructing (however abstract). The album in characterized by an abrasive darkness. That darkness manifests itself into a sort of Industrial Dancehall (“We Want War”); knife-wielding(literally), postmodern attack music (“Attack Music”); and an audibly frantic grasp for survival (“Fire-Power”). A beautiful horror that could rival Nico’s The End – Izzy Cihak