Tom Brady (vocals), Andrew Connaughton (guitar), Ryan Mortell (bass) and Matthew Pyper (drums) are the quartet who make upDublin based Irish noise punksNaked Lungs, whose debut album `Doomscroll` is released this month.
The album opens with `Gack` with a fairly tribalistic drumbeat guiding us, as it rolls along with distorted guitars and vocals that are mainly spoken and seem fairly life questioning. There`s a kind of shimmer midway before the musical soundscape becomes more confrontational and crunches to a climax with vocals that are shrieked. We have a fairly fast paced start to `Second Song` before slowing and engaging us with a hypnotic pulse like beat and vocals that flit between spoken and sung delivering an incantation or prayer in a Jim Morrisson like style.
`River (Down)` has a pretty antagonistic diatribe shared over a quite anthemic cinematic musical soundscape. There was, I felt a bit of a jazz like opening to `Relentless` with some quietly shared poetic lyrics before it really ignited. The group asserted that it was a number that incorporated aspects from horror film soundtracks into a noise rock track.
`Shell` is the kind of track that threatens to explode but manages to keep itself in check with an overwhelming sense of unease throughout. In `Outcome` we enjoy a short lived brutal auditory assault after a fairly lengthy kind of foreplay.
`Pressure`, I read explores themes of male-vulnerability, toxic masculinity, and the inevitable downward spiral as result of not addressing these issues. It`s offered to us as if there`s a time limit before it expires. The band have shared that `Database` came about “as we collectively tried to harness and contain the intense noise of the band into a sub-three-minute track. Kind of like fitting a pint into a shot glass. No frills – no bullshit.” It`s a blistering scolding composition with some intriguing verbal invective.
`The Garden` is probably the most instantly accessible of the tracks on the album, which may be a deliberate curve ball, who knows. A kind of post punk speedball of a number. We close out with `Boo Boo` which is a self-examining submission with a musical accompaniment that flits between light and shade as it evolves.
Naked Lungs are a bit of a conundrum and `Doomscroll` can at times be a challenging listen but worthwhile, nevertheless. It veers from abrasive noise with grinding guitars to a more melodic rhythm-based texture with vocals that are always full of emotion and passion.
It has a real brutal intensive beauty about it and one to certainly file under uneasy listening.
Rating 8.5 / 10
