Interrobang?! were formed by ex-Chumbawamba singer Dunstan Bruce and drummer Harry Hamer, together with Stephen Griffin, former guitarist of Regular Fries and released their self-titled album in 2018. The interrobang (‽) is that striking punctuation mark which fuses the question mark and the exclamation mark into one: a symbol of astonished inquiry, an exclamation of disbelief, a call to arms and a refusal to stay silent. In the same spirit, Interrobang?! the band emerged out of not just an urge to speak but a desire to shout above the noise of a seemingly sedated world.
The band release their latest record `Rethink Everything` this month which marks a move away from their previous guitar-led confrontational sound. A reinvention of sorts toward something more rhythmic and propelling, something groovier, more unmistakably dance-driven.
`Now Is The Time` opens with a screamed “I`m as mad as hell and i`m not gonna take this anymore ” and is a spoken word introduction which appears to encourage us to `carpe diem` or seize the day and includes a line from William Shakespeare’s play Richard III. There`s a pulsing beat to `Outrageous` which provokes one to say something outrageous, shocking, or disgraceful in five seconds. A rhythmic offering that will seep into your subconscious and entice you. It gains a jangling guitar riff in the final third of the song.
`My Name Is` is a kind of steam of consciousness on growing old shared atop a synth based backing with the train of thought becoming slightly confrontational as it evolves. The title is maybe a play on the Eminem song. I thought that `Unorthodox` touched on the state of our world today shared over a dance like Gang of Four beat with vocals that appear through a vocoder at times throughout. The last thirty seconds takes a kind of curveball. The lyrics of “Stop all the clocks” could refer to legislative manipulation or maybe not.
`Not Gonna Lie` has a musical backdrop that sounds like it should be featured in a futuristic sci fi film although we do have some random bongos mid song. There`s spoken word shared in a Yorkshire dialect that is conversational, like listening in on someone’s private conversation. The track assumes the worst possible outcome will occur, regardless of how unlikely it is, a sign of catastrophise and anxiousness but concludes with aiming to accomplish things outside of your comfort zone. Age, mortality, and impermanence remain a guiding theme here as throughout the whole album. The final track `Fabulous` has a marching rhythmic drum cadence and becomes very dance like and hypnotic before it fades out with an echo. A view on the meaning of life possibly.
There is a bonus track in `Manosphere` a dance like diatribe referring to the dangers of the collection of online forums, blogs, and social media groups promoting masculinist, anti-feminist, and often misogynistic ideologies.
`Rethink Everything` is a slight change of pace for Interrobang?! musically and has a much more dance orientated and less confrontational vibe. An album that wrestles with themes of identity, relevance, mortality and responsibility with thoughts and suggestions almost shared subliminally throughout. The politics is retained but revealed in a much more subtle manner.
A welcome return from Interrobang?!, a band that always have something well worth listening to both musically and lyrically.
Rating 8.5/10
