At times, the structure of contemporary post-punk bands starts to feel monotonous. Slightly alter the tone of your bass, find a baritone whose voice could maybe, loosely, be compared to Ian Curtis’ and just like that you’re trying to be the next Joy Division. But that is not the case for the band Preoccupations. Sure, it may be fronted by groaning baritone and deft bassist Matt Flegel, but to call Preoccupations’ newest effort any sort of complete emulation would be wrong. They fuse a variety of sounds to form something that’s able to feel faithful to the genre yet novel at the same time.
Preoccupations is the band’s self-titled second release and follows their January 2015 release, titled Viet Cong after the band’s original name. Sonically, as well as nominally, they’ve transformed significantly since then. While Viet Cong presents a kind of post-punk that’s blunt, biting and raw, more in step with the revivalism of bands like Interpol than the early ‘80s genre, Preoccupations is a different beast. The band has clearly turned their eyes to the forefathers of many genres — post-punk, new-wave and noise rock — to create that aforementioned musical familiarity.
But one of the first noticeable traits of the album is the way it shifts the listener into an alien headspace. “Anxiety” opens with quiet, bell-like pads that drone on for a complete minute before a flat, vaguely industrial lead synth pulses along with the staccato of the almost grinding kick. As Flegel sings the opening lines — “With a sense of urgency and unease/Second-guessing just about everything” — listeners begin to realize just what kind of mindset it is they’re being transported to. As the album continues, everything becomes enveloped in that humid haze of ethereal synths and increasingly distorted guitars, driven forward by the percussive power of the bass line.
This disorientation is only compounded upon by the way some tracks seamlessly blend into one another, but others feel disjointed. Some might be put off by this lack of consistency, but the album’s dissonance seems intentional. Look at how off-putting the contents of “Sense” and “Forbidden” are: one-minute songs that seem to act as strange interludes that are placed right after the beginning of the album, interrupting the flow of the more substantive tracks. “Sense” is comprised almost solely of sci-fi-inspired pads and haunting vocal harmonies, while “Forbidden” is characterized by similar spacey synths and fades out just as it seems the rest of the song is about to start. But that disconnectedness is a way of structurally iterating the emotions the album wants to evoke: confusion, fear and anxiety.
In that same vein, each song harnesses the power of specific musical techniques with varying degrees of subtlety: while “Monotony” appeals to new wave synth-pop sensibilities, “Stimulation” sounds like it could have been ripped straight off of a Smiths record with its jangling guitars and angular rhythms speeding through the track. But that doesn’t mean those tracks are derivative. In fact, one of the core strengths of this album is the way in which Preoccupations puts its own spin on all of these musical themes to make the songs feel cohesive. “Monotony” and “Stimulation” both have distinct characters, but both are tinged with coats of noise rock and ethereality that bind them together.
And that’s what makes this album such a strong effort. The modern edge of the music and lyrics is made to complement the rich histories of the genres it embodies and combines. Preoccupations manages to sound novel without ever betraying that history, which isn’t an easy trick. Ultimately, everything comes together to create an enticing piece of contemporaneous post-punk that hits the mark.
Grade: 4/5
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