Review: Villages - Excessive Demand

Label: It's Eleven Records/Pike Records

It's Eleven Records are slowly becoming a source for quality Post-Punk. I've more than enjoyed L'APPEL DU VIDE's "Abwärtsspirale" from earlier this year, and now the label out of Chemnitz in Germany released their first LP as a co-release with Pike Records. It's called "Excessive Demand" by VILLAGES. And... it's a big one!

Somehow the three-piece out of Dresden (near Chemnitz) has found their way to the 2020s, despite picturing their own dream scenario of forever getting caught in the 80s. Honestly, if we could turn back the time 40 years, then VILLAGES would sell a lot of records while being on tour with legends like NEW ORDER or DEPECHE MODE. Heck, this record puts early DEPECHE MODE to shame. I just can't get enough, no pun intended!

The label rendered my work redundant with their perfect description of VILLAGE's sound, so I'll just paste it as it comes: "Unusual drum grooves drive the eight songs forward, while analog synthesizers and reverberated guitars add layer upon layer - the electronic coldness meets a warm bass sound and often fragile, multi-part vocals. VILLAGES blend diverse influences from synth- pop, indie/art rock and post-rock to create their original, detailed sound that reveals new facets with every listen. This reflects such diverse sources of inspiration as Battles, Trail of Dead, LCD Soundsystem, Deerhunter, Pttrns, Chad VanGaalen and many more."

Word. 10/10. Buy this!

...or, wait! Personally a lot of those references are nothing more than names for me, with the exception of TRAIL OF DEAD for sure. I'd draw comparisons to the classics of the 80s. NEW ORDER and DEPECHE MODE, the ones they'd be on tour with in another time span. Or THE CURE. When they rock out more, I also hear awesome 80s-Post-Punk-acts like THE COMSAT ANGLES or THE SOUND in this. And when they get more quirky, they take something from the almighty JOY DIVISION. On "Neal" they even cite SLINT. Yeah, since "Spiderland" was released, no band ever again is able to use spoken words combined with sparse instrumentation, without getting compared to SLINT...

Just like the talented writer above emphasized, VILLAGE's music is vast. It really is layer upon layer upon layer. There's so much going on in this 37 minutes that you'd probably need two more ears to get a hold. I especially love the diversity of the record or the band in general. The space-y, dark, moody and mysterious Electronics are a highlight on this record and could just be out of a cool Sci-Fi-movie or -game. The opener "[sic!]" is already proof enough and they continue in the same manner with the nice intro for "Younity". Further down the road they shake out their Synth-Pop-qualities with a catchy refrain, yet the voice is always backed by a massively impressive soundscape. With "Venice Imprint" they even get a bit melancholic, 'til the upcoming "Dougie Jones" sports one of the absolute highlights in terms of electronics or instrumentation. I don't know what it is, but I always was a sucker for those Future-esque (?) sounds, and VILLAGES create the best of it.

At first glance, you might think you're in for a pretty Electro-nish affair, but it's not like that. What I do like about VILLAGES is, that no matter how important the Electronics may be, they still remain a Rock-band. At least one of them was active in LARA KORONA, if you can trust RYM. And somehow you can hear that in their sound. The feedback-heavy guitars take something from the likes of SHELLAC and UNWOUND and add a lot to the whole feeling with all their grittiness - check "Great Headache" or the aggressive and oh so captivating closer "Salad Days". 

Synth-Pop, New-Wave or Post-Punk are sometimes deeply connected to a lot of commercially succesful bands of the 80s that were essentially more like boybands with a keyboard or two. VILLAGES are nothing like that. "Excessive Demand" reeks of bewildering and dark atmosphere, the production is gutsy, the musicians are highly talented, and their songs are complex beasts with a lot to discover, yet they always get stuck in your head and come up with a natural flow you can't escape so easily. 

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