Review by: Alex Hannan
I’m not sure exactly when this cassette EP was recorded (all I have is artwork, title, and record label), but I’m guessing around two years must have elapsed between the recording sessions for MALATESE’s debut LP and the taping of these tracks. MALATESE are broadly mining the same seam “” still a Dischord-ish sound going on, often recalling the weirder moods FUGAZI would get into around the time of “The Argument”, maybe a little mid-period AT THE DRIVE-IN.
Opener “Weak stream” contrasts a clipped, queasy instrumental mood with vocals that waste little time in reaching a scenery-chewing pitch, rising from a falsetto croon into voice-cracking sobbing. The band remain evasive at first, but finally erupt to match the intensity with blunt, dissonant chords. This spurs on the singer into full-on hyperventilating melodrama. “IT’S GETTING OUT OF HAND!!!” No shit. Guitar, bass and drums convey expressive changes in mood, but without really sinking any hooks in your head.
“Ostrich” begins with a spare hypnotic pound but then breaks into a wider ranging chord sequence, the guitar leads making choices just left of what you’d expect, conveying an itchy awkwardness. Vocals are processed and smeary, set back in the mix, which isn’t giving me a successful instrumental blend here. Third track “Twitter song” irritates the hell out of me, the vocals inescapably front and centre, intoning portentous lyrics: “Got a picture, got a pretty picture / Replication, it’s social elevation, ocean /[…] Got the picture, media scripture / Education, it’s standard deviation.” Even Brian Molko would have chucked that in the bin. Musically, however, the song has some quite elegant, dark moods going on.
The second side twists the band’s textural experiments into interesting shapes, and the most compelling songwriting is found here. It begins with knotty, sombre guitar work, until we suddenly hit a melodic chorus “Exit through the window” mood-swings between extrovert and introvert, restless verses contrasting with sing-song major chords. Closer “Mega snoozers” manages to channel the Richard Ashcroft vocal inclinations that also surfaced on the LP into a sweetly sinister number that builds nicely and has a satisfying twist at the end of the chorus. I like! The little swooping vocal lines work great, too.
Other than that, the over-dramatic vocals are generally way too much for me. I’d much rather hear a zero-fucks MARK E. SMITH attitude over this kind of backing than the kind of emotive attention grab that I’m mostly hearing here. Texture rather than riffs seems to be MALATESE’s strong point, which at times leaves me wishing for catchier ideas, but zooming out to the level of the whole song, if the second side here is representative, they have a growing knack of getting mileage out of contrasting kinds of material or longer-range progressions.