KUDZU - DEFEATED - PUSH AND PULL RECORDS - ALBUM REVIEW
Hailing from Missouri, this synth-rock duo pulls no punches when it comes to neck-snapping beats and attitude. Yet conversely, much of Defeated is really rather beautiful with it's low-slung basslines, ham-fisted synth-riffs and disparate hollering. Indeed as the PR notes state, much of Kudzu's output is aligned with the stars of Factory Records (Section 25, Minnypops and Joy Division spring to mind), as well as industrial names like Cassandra Complex, Skinny Puppy and Hula and shoegazey behemoths My Bloody Valentine and Psychocandy-era Jesus and Mary Chain.
Much of Defeated is a blizzard of syn-drums and a thunderfuck of droney vocals and aged synth sounds chucked into a blender designed to alienate your senses from the rest of your soul. Titles like Balking The Grave and Burn Yourself fit perfectly with the early '80s scene of raincoats and fights, while the glorious trio of Sleep In Disguise, One Purpose and When You Were Mine reside within the heritage borne out of New Order's Power Corruption and Lies. One Purpose in particular is begging for some attention - full-on synths, skittering hi-hats and unforgiving drums power the whole gasping thing forward like it was 1982.
Never mind the retro influences though - Kudzu seriously rock in an uneasy contemporary Hookworms kind of way which, in these times, we just may all need from time to time.
7.5/10
Much of Defeated is a blizzard of syn-drums and a thunderfuck of droney vocals and aged synth sounds chucked into a blender designed to alienate your senses from the rest of your soul. Titles like Balking The Grave and Burn Yourself fit perfectly with the early '80s scene of raincoats and fights, while the glorious trio of Sleep In Disguise, One Purpose and When You Were Mine reside within the heritage borne out of New Order's Power Corruption and Lies. One Purpose in particular is begging for some attention - full-on synths, skittering hi-hats and unforgiving drums power the whole gasping thing forward like it was 1982.
Never mind the retro influences though - Kudzu seriously rock in an uneasy contemporary Hookworms kind of way which, in these times, we just may all need from time to time.
7.5/10