There was some speculation on something I was listening to recently as to whether lockdown could be the beginning of a renaissance for the album (I know “Malfunction” is an EP, but bear with me here). It was thought that the idea that we were all at home and had time might do it.
If it does, though, will music become a communal experience again when we are all allowed out of our homes?
As much as I like to blame the Internet for all of societies ills (well the ones I can’t blame Facebook specifically for, that is) my theory is that the Walkman killed that.
The very moment that you could tale music with you was the very moment that it became yours, rather than ours.
I’ve literally just watched “Bohemian Rhapsody” before typing this, and believe me, I am no Queen fan, but a thought struck me while it was on: Was Live Aid the last time rock music was truly mainstream? Something we could all share?
On “Head Of The Snake”, the first song on new Dead Posey’s EP, Danyell Souza suggests that “Daddy said I could rule the world” – and it sounds huge.
Will they? In the Spotify age, can anyone? Who knows? The President of the US tells people to drink Bleach, god almighty, ours hides in a fridge. Who can predict anything anymore?
What we can say without fear of being wrong is that Dead Posey have an original sound. I read the description of “Rammstein and Joan Jett” and went “that’ll never work”. It does.
Souza and Tony F create a barren, dystopian soundscape, but mix it with strutting, glam rock choruses and hooks. There’s nothing here you couldn’t sing along to, certainly not “Parasite”, short, sharp and kind of punk. But its like the weird kid at the back of the class. You don’t know what its plotting next.
“Bad Things” broods with a malevolence. Never have the words “I do what I can to relax” sounded quite so threatening. Thing is, the chorus, that rules. They know exactly what they are doing.
The last one of the four, “Holy Roller” might be the best, and it has a funky groove that suggests that this is a band that has plenty to reveal yet. Peeling back those layers might be fun in the coming years.
It’s 20 years or more since Brian Warner bet his mate he could outrage a nation and became Marilyn Manson. Industrial, electro music always manages to sound superb when lurking in the shadows. When it gets really good, though, is when it wraps that around an unashamed pop hook. On the basis that “Malfunction” does exactly that, you’d best keep an eye on Dead Posey as whatever passes for fame in these times could be theirs.
Rating 8.5/10
