Tics

Reviews

Tics Flash Language LP

This is an album brimming with post-punk, disjointed funk, and spoken word with backing harmonies, following the paths of CRISPY AMBULANCE, the FALL etc. I would not consider this LP in an adjacent standing with the majority of records typically reviewed in these parts, but provoking? Yes. Fun and oddly enticing to return to? Yes again. Kolsch bohos TICS at first came off like an aging tribute band, but at second spin, there is a lot more to unpack. Fractured songs that mix dance rhythms with shouted pleas alongside synthetic guitars and tin metronome drums tapping away. It’s all assembled in a way that gives more with each listen.

Tics Agnostic Funk 12″

Eight tracks of jagged funk-punk from this Cologne group. Quirky, stop-start rhythms plus wandering bass-lines punctuated by hyper-speed funk guitar form the foundation for these terse, varied ruminations on modern society. The songwriting is complex, the playing polished and accomplished—a potent mix of fIREHOSE, TALKING HEADS, and BADGEWEARER. Fantastic stuff.