Drunk Meat Diagonale Du Vide LP
With a name like DRUNK MEAT and a location like Bordeaux, France, I was certain this was going to be some sub-Slovenly Euro garage. Au contraire! This is way more interesting. What we have here is some po-faced post-punk, somewhat in the vein of TOTAL CONTROL. DRUNK MEAT is actually just a duo, and nearly all of the ten tracks on this release are built around a synth and drum machine backbone. However, it doesn’t really sound inorganic—it’s more of a swampy groove that’s halfway between the SCIENTISTS’ “We Had Love” and JOY DIVISION’s “Heart and Soul.” But guitars are the stars of the show here. They break through the muck in shimmery walls of sound or glide on top as echoey surf licks. In that regard, it really reminds me a lot of late-period TV GHOST. I don’t know that anything on this record is as memorable as that band’s “Veils,” but it’s a pretty decent substitute if that’s something you’re pining for. Definitely worth a listen.