Genre/Influences: Industrial, industrial-pop, electro-rock.
Background/Info: Set up in 1987 and hailing from Chicago (USA) Groovie Mann and Buzz McCoy became with their band one of the flag holders of the legendary Wax Trax! label. More than 30 years later they’re still in business and never stopped releasing new work –even if it’s not at a regular basis. “In The House Of Strange Affairs” is their first album in five years.
Content: I’m familiar with the early work of the band but I have to admit to have a bit lost their trace during the past years. There’s one constant aspect in their work, MLWTTKK always experimented with new ideas and challenges. You can’t consider them as belonging to one specific music style as they’re simply bringing multiple influences together. It remains something ‘industrial’, but still rock- and pop driven.
The songs are driven by deep bass lines, now revealing great vintage synth lines and then groovy sequences. Sometimes a bit funky and then definitely electronic; sometimes featuring a guitar solo and next moving into symphonic and bombast arrangements.
+ + + : One thing is for sure, this is a band that simply doesn’t care about fashion trends and other established music genre. MLWTTKK is a genre on their own and that’s why it’s hard to define their sound. The songs sometimes feel like very different parts, but on the other side these parts can’t stand on their own. There’s a real cohesion between them all creating a compact work carried by good-old ‘industrial’ music and supported by many other influences. That’s why even more than 30 years after their set up, this band still sounds refreshing. I especially like the great bass playing and some of the electronic bleeps and arrangements. The song “Forbidden Saints” is the absolute highlight!
– – – : The main thing with such a band, which entered into history with their debut work “I See Good Spirits And I See Bad Spirits”, is that the initial magic is gone for years now.
Conclusion: I think it’s no longer about magic today, but about a band that is still having fun by doing what they like to do… and I’d some real fun listening to this work.
Best songs: “Forbidden Saints”, “Studio 21”, “The Chains Of Fame”.
Rate: (7½).
Artist: www.mylifewiththethrillkillkult.com / www.facebook.com/thrillkillkult
Label: www.sleazebox.com / www.facebook.com/sleazeboxrecords
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