Art-punk is usually a description that makes me move out of the way. Most of the art-punk I have heard so far just isn’t my cup of tea. Every rule has its exceptions, so here we are; I have listened to In The Midnight Hour dozens of times already. There is two things you need to know about this last statement. Firstly: that is not the chore it would seem as these twelve tracks last for about 22 minutes only. Secondly: this is actually pretty rad stuff!
WIth In The Midnight Hour Perennial released their second album. On their Bandcamp they tell us this is art-punk and post-hardcore. I don’t really hear a lot of post-hardcore in the mix to be honest. What I do get is the swagger of early punk and proto-punk bands. There is a certain vibe in a a couple of song, like in opener “The Skeleton Dance” that reminds me of The Shitty Limits going completely bonkers with time-changes and adding a couple of extra instruments.
What surprised me most is how easy it is to listen to this album considering the amount of time-changes and twists and turns in these short high energy bursts. It is the kind of stuff that, despite not being the most straightforward music, urges you to put on your dancing shoes.
In other reviews I try to quickly describe the sonic landscape. I find it hard to find the proper description with this record. This could either mean Perennial is onto something unique or that I am just not familiar enough with the scene they are active in. Let’s give it a try though. There is the upbeat vibe of The Shitty Limits. The shouted vocals also remind me of this band. Although a big difference is the back and forth vocal exchanges employed in a lot of songs. Punky guitars take the forefront, but are supported and challenged by keyboards (an electric organ no less). Like mentioned before the band is absolutely not afraid to include twists and turns you would not necessarily expect resulting in weird songwriting that somehow does work.
“I Am The Whooping Crane” is an example of the weird songwriting that works. It starts with something that could be an opening to an upbeat soul tune or something free jazz, but instead leads to a hardcore riff. Quickly we take a turn into a break that could be something The Refused could do, to go back to the aforementioned riff, this time with loads of electric organ. A new break leads us into something that sounds a bit stuttering after which the song appears to end, but no, the outro is full on garage soul.
What keeps everything together is the intense drumming. It plays a big part in keeping the band sounding as a coherent whole. It allows guitars and electronics to do whatever they want. The songwriting deserves some praise too. Despite going everywhere, the band remembers to keep focus. I appreciate the fact that despite meandering, these songs are kept to tight bursts of energy. So short that most songs are around 90 seconds long and no song reaches the three minute mark.
I can almost hear you think: there must be downsides too, right? And there are. I am not a fan of the experimental soundscapes like at the ending of “Lauren Bacall In Blue” or, worst offender “Food For Hornets”. “Hey Eurydice” is soundscape only and could have been left off completely as far as I am concerned. Lucky for me those experiments don’t last very long. I really do hope a next release will exclude these parts as it would really make the album stronger.
So, what do we have here? Tight songwriting resulting in sharp songs, great performances, especially on the drums, high energy, very danceable stuff. Consider me a fan.
