MOD CON: Modern Condition | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- Modern Condition is the second album by Melbourne band, MOD CON. MOD CON comes together as the sum of three highly experienced artists. On vocals and guitar is Erica Dunn who currently plays with Tropical Fuck Storm and Harmony. Sara Retallick, a sound artist and solo musician using the moniker Golden Syrup on bass and Raquel Sollier who also makes experimental, club-centric work under the name Various Asses on drums.

Overall, this LP gives the feeling of being in a sweaty rock venue, flailing around to a heavy, post-punk group that are totally gig-hardened and so present with each other that the songs all sound like they are coming together in the moment. So often bands strive to make their recordings sound how they do live and on this album, MOD CON have achieved that.

It begins with Ammo: a prowling, spacious beat, a staccato bass groove and wiry guitar lines. Erica Dunn’s voice is soft and alluring then aggressive then back again. One-note synth and guitar rhythms hold the menace and tension. The energy keeps up with Cool It! Tom-heavy drums and bass-lead instrumentation in the verses build to these driving, even choruses with strummed guitars that open into some expansive electric guitar solos.

By the third track Learner in an Alpha the groove is well and truly set. It has me bopping, the double-vocalled verse lyrics come almost stream-of-consciousness. I pick out lines like “I look good / I told you so / You never have to worry when you’re made out of gold.” The guitar melodies worm so confidently into the choruses as Dunn belts: “I can hear a voice coming from below / Can you hear? It’s saying I’m a car crash I know / It wasn’t so long ago I was your trophy / So give me salvation on a plate.” Mouth of Stone comes next, letting up a little to give a welcome moment to breathe and get some water but it soon becomes hypnotic, the spaciousness and the long-held vocal notes over the toms in the chorus call like banshees across some foggy mountain. The rest of the album brings the dancing back and highlights the depth of the well that MOD CON are tapping into: there is seemingly no end to the variations on the themes of tight driving rhythms, frantic, wailing guitars and hard-edged, no-nonsense lyrics.

Modern Condition presents MOD CON as a band who sound so comfortable in their own skin, it's kind of the opposite of the awkwardly butting egos and supergroup syndrome you could be legitimately concerned about when each member is acclaimed in their own right. Instead, everyone is filling their role, providing space and supporting one another, propelling each of the nine songs along at a hectic pace. If this record really does represent the modern condition, there may actually be hope for the future.

- Ben Snaith.