Ritual Error Dial in the Ghost LP
Barrelling, ear-ringing, and rhythm-forward post-hardcore with emo tendencies from a London band whose sound is—for now?—unfashionable, which, combined with the thoughtful muscularity of the results, makes me appreciate RITUAL ERROR all the more. With a curious (and good) habit of getting jazzier and more complex the faster their tempos, there’s some DRIVE LIKE JEHU in Okala Elesia’s guitar tone, HOOVER in the tight arrangements, maybe CIRCUS LUPUS at certain points; I think this band would have found a warm welcome in a few discrete parts of the mid-2000s UK scene. Lyrics are impassioned if often indirect, “Tear Jerker” notable for opening with a sample of a M*rgaret Th*tcher speech before lamenting how Britain’s dullard class have been “diagnosed with nostalgia for cars, working hours and flags.”