Review
INVSN
Self Titled

The problem with a passion project is that its appeal is going to be fairly strictly limited to those who are passionate about the focus of the project or passionate about those behind it. I'm not sure which of those sides of the coin will turn out to be the one to call in mid-air, but as turns out to often be the case, you don't want things to come down to a coin flip. And that's what this feels like, a passion project, an effort to evoke a sound from times past without mucking it up with too much window dressing, something pure and somewhat insulated from everything that has come since. Dennis Lyxzén, formerly of Refused and The (International) Noise Conspiracy, and a band made up of players in other Swedish exports including DS-13, Deportees, and Lykke Li, bring you post-punk straight out of the late 70s, and they serve it neat.

At every turn, INVSN oozes with sounds familiar to fans of Joy Division and rings with echoes of The Bunnymen. INVSN's English-language debut comes strongly out of the gate with the desolate and minimal "#61". A haunting guitar riff repeats throughout the song as Lyxzén howls "a storm is coming for you," as the track builds to a fervor. The single "Down in the Shadows" immediately follows, capturing a storm of moody guitars, a pounding industrial beat evocative of post-punk/new wave and a sense of urgency from Lyxzén that could only exist in a post-hardcore landscape. The track keeps you on your toes by breaking into an almost power-pop chorus before finishing on the song's oft-repeated line "they're never gonna give you praise" being screamed by Lyxzén like it's as important as anything that could be said right now. Unfortunately, the album largely fails to capitalize on the solid 1-2 punch it opens with, falling into a trap of letting the tracks fail to differentiate from one another, instead relying too heavily on their post-punk inspirations and never really getting off the ground. The highlights of these tracks come towards the end of the record with "It's All Coming Back" and "Distorted Heartbeat", but even they fail to be memorable, instead feeling more fitting as background music for a late night car ride that's inexplicably in black and white. "It's All Coming Back" packs a bit of slippery danceability that will feel familiar to T(I)NC fans, and "Our Blood" surprises by breaking into a hardcore panic that would see pointed fingers flying in the direction of the stage at any small club, but these aspects still fail to make their respective tracks into keepers. Besides a misstep on the, perhaps intentionally, melodramatic "God Has Left Us Stranded," Lyxzén's lyrical prowess remains strong throughout, managing to produce social commentary that is biting and, at times, seemingly tinged with resignation. The album rises again for it's closing track, "Hate", which captures a feeling of bitterness and anger towards a world that seems to damn itself by constantly falling into the same patterns of vengeance and hatred, while acknowledging similar patterns rise up in those who might be the harshest critics of those patterns and perhaps serves some noble purpose to fuel that sort of opposition. Still, "hats off to hatred/I'm not afraid/hats off to hated/that made me this way," rings out like it's all futile when it really comes down to it. The song is haunting and will probably resonate with anyone who has grown from a young idealist convinced they could change the world into something more bitter as it becomes more evident that little ever changes. The album's final track builds until it's bleeding noise before it's sharply cut off by silence. 

INVSN shows signs of a band that's somewhere between finding something special and being lost in the current, with exciting stylistic clashes too often being drowned out by something too familiar. I have enjoyed the record more with each listen, picking out things I hadn't previously noticed in several tracks. In an era of shuffled playlists and streaming services, the album is worth a listen to pluck out a gem or two, but it never quite comes together as a whole.