- With Useless Coordinates, the frenetic forthcoming debut album from Leed’s dark pop darlings Drahla, we are delivered, dazed and delighted, to the meeting place of jangly art rock, no-wave & pulsing post-punk. After teasing out a string of saccharine sweet, critically adored and instantly infectious singles since 2016, Drahla finally satisfies our cravings for a full-length release; one which is plump with musings on mysticism & modern anxieties.
Artrock can be painfully precocious at times. Fusing elements of the avant-garde, music theory and jazz, it can be a little agitating if you're not seeking those sometimes challenging angles. It’s also exhilarating, refreshing for the mind to navigate and -rather excitingly- reappears again & again within the contemporary post-punk scene, with a welcome lack of pretentiousness. It’s the meeting of sharp & soft; the off-kilter & the steady, which make this dichotic duo of genres so enticing. Drahla’s newest offering beautifully exemplifies this as it pulls you into this world of dizzying, delightful contrast. Over ten tracks we traipse through Pixies-esque loud/quiet/loud arrangements, which feel incredibly inspired by, but not derivative of, fellow no-wave Avant-punks like Die Electric Eels, Talking Heads, Pylon & Preoccupations. Further, although there are a few moments of deja vu on Useless Coordinates, Drahla’s uncompromisingly unique sound & artistic vision is clearly asserted throughout.
Singer/guitarist Luciel Brown’s lyrics flow like honey from the hive; both contemplative and cutting. They coalesce and take form as celestial musings, caustic critiques of the modern condition & cutting quips on the precarious social & emotional landscape we collectively, if not unconsciously, tread together.
Rob Riggs’ pulsing bass furrows onwards into the ever-brewing storm of sound against Mike Ainsley’s drums and the lighting like cracks of Chris Duffins’ saxophone with a kind of nonchalant urgency to its pace- a defining trait within the post-punk pantheon. The interplay between Brown’s yowling guitar and Ainsley’s jazzy, snappy drums gets under your skin & between the folds of your brain effortlessly.
If nothing else here convinced you, the acts Drahla have opened for of late give a fair and just indication of their sound & credibility. They’ve shared the stage with the likes of Parquet Courts, METZ, Ought, and The Buzzcocks, not to mention being personally selected by The Cure’s Robert Smith to play his impeccably curated 2018 Meltdown Festival.
Useless Coordinates is the perfect album for 2019. It brings sharp wit sharply delivered, constructing contorted visions of esoteric places, fleeting feelings & intangible, heavy moods. You’ll find yourself walking to the jaunty beat against the pallor of a dull city’s hum & hitting repeat as soon as the album is done.
- Dominique Furphy.