Feral Five – Man Cat Doll Machine (Primitive Light Recordings)
8.5 /
10
31
March 2017
Electro-punk
duo release their new EP.
It’s
almost three years since we first featured Feral Five on these pages with the
release of their debut EP Skin and declared them as ‘your new favourite
group’. Times have changed but Kat and
Drew Five are still releasing effective and catchy disco-punk which prompted Louder Than War to tip them as ‘ones to watch’ in 2017.
Their latest
EP, Man Cat Doll Machine was commissioned by non-other than electro pioneer
Martyn Ware (The Human League, B.E.F., Heaven 17) for his recent Picasso
Portraits event Everything You Can Imagine which was held at the National
Portrait Gallery in January. Such was
the interest in the duo that visitors had to be turned away.
The
subject matter of desire, justice and the treatment of women from Picasso’s
work became the themes for Feral Five to develop the sounds and words of this
new four track collection. With
accompanying artwork from artist Tracey Moberly (Banksy, Bill Drummond, Martyn
Ware) the tracks show a further maturity in their sound.
Lead
track Man Cat Doll Machine refutes the Picasso claim that ‘women are machines
for suffering’ with a throbbing bassline, crashing guitars and sweeping synth
interlude cleverly covering an almost Spaghetti Western style guitar
pluck. As you’d expect, it’s highly
infectious stuff and is possibly one of the duo’s most compelling and compete arrangements
to date. Kat’s vocals style is perfectly
suited to a delay/release style which adds to word longevity and Drew’s
exploration into new beats and sounds continues to enthral.
Second
track, Cat moves the organised chaos from its predecessor down a touch and
includes a bouncing synth sound not unlike Soft Cell’s Bedsitter or Night Train
by Visage, and it makes near perfect pop-punk fodder. A theme of retaliation pervades throughout. The lamenting Doll takes a sorry look at the
women in Picasso’s paintings and the betrayal that they endured. Vocals soar and uplifting synth swirls create
an almost orchestral feel in the EPs surprise track. It’s beautifully executed and suits its
neo-minimalist approach.
EP
closer, Desire sees a road into disco-punk in the best way possible. It’s chaotic and thumps with disco beats and
punk power. Everything is done to excess
and it all fits together wonderfully as it pounds and gnarls from beginning to
end. Vocals are few but when they are
present they co-habit in the piece with an anarchic synth repeat that provides
the ultimate psychological workout.
Welcome
back Feral Five, it’s like you’ve never been away.
Soundcloud
Published by Louder Than War 29 March 2017 - here
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