New Brighton act Hemiptera bill themselves as neocrust, and the influence of Fall Of Efrafa’s long, bunny-eared shadow can definitely be felt on their excellent five-track demo. To my mind, though, there’s plenty more at play. The scratchy guitar work and desperate, ragged scrabble of it all brings to mind French emo greats like Finger Print, Anomie and Peu Être, while the graceful (and tastefully-deployed) cello ensures a Portrait comparison isn’t too far away. If the husky roars keep things crusty there’s also a general willingness to stretch and go beyond the expected which sets Hemiptera apart. The haunting, cleanly-sung intro to ‘Lavoro’ lends the song an air of some old resistance song, for example, while the elasticated ping and scrape that helps bring ‘Die’ to its crashing close is weird and atypical yet wholly right. Add in some lovely packaging and some thoroughly sound politics and you’re onto a real winner here – can’t wait to hear what they do next!
