Studio album number three from Finnish gothic post punkers Grave Pleasures is one I must admit to almost passing up on due to the recent trend for bands to warm up their fans with selected video singles from their soon to be released album. It’s not just ‘Plagueboys’ though, I almost passed up on the new Damned album too (coincidently both were released on the same day) due to this practise, but thankfully I saw sense and bought both and by God am I glad I did as both have turned out to be great albums.
That right there is the core issue though I think, because like The Damned, Grave Pleasure release albums, complete works of art that need to be listened to in their totality , not via cherrypicked tracks, albeit I will admit to now loving the trio of tracks I was previously pointing at my PC screen and ranting at (for not being as immediate as tracks from the band’s previous LPs 2015’s ‘Dreamcrash and 2017’s ‘Motherblood’) when I listened to them in isolation.
Consisting of 10 tracks and with a runtime of just 42 minutes ‘Plagueboys’ is certainly “a straight to the point” kind of record, it’s the type of album that was commonplace in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and opening track ‘Disintegration Girl’ sounds just like it was birthed in that golden age of music too. A squeal of feedback segueing into tubthumping Budgie-esque (the drummer not band) drums over which a chiming slink-y (geddit?) riff unfurls in all its glorious gothic beauty and then it’s all topped off by the ever-fabulous vocals of frontman Mathew McNerney. This is a stunning opening cut, and I’m immediately thinking “what the hell was I doing ever doubting one of my favourite bands of the past decade?”
Yup it’s the tenth anniversary of Beastmilk’s epic ‘Climax’ record this year, and it’s that record from the band that would eventually become Grave Pleasures that ‘Plagueboys’ perhaps most reminds me of, especially ‘Heart Like a Slaughterhouse’. It’s a track the band themselves admit to sounding right and wrong all at once, and its one that will take a few listens for you to get your head around, but once it’s got its hooks in you, trust me, it’s like “boomshanka” and the gothic payload will fry your brain.
‘When The Shooting’s Done’ is for me the track the band should have previewed ‘Plagueboys’ with, its simply classic Grave Pleasures at their deathrock best. Propelled by a once again slightly angular rhythmic pattern that on first listen appears at odds to the rest of the band, the key change chorus to this anthem in the making is pure gold. Now I just can’t wait to hear this one live.
The third and final video teaser ‘High On Annihilation’ was my pick of the pack in the run up to the release of ‘Plagueboys’ and it’s the track that finally got me pressing the ‘pre-order’ button for my limited coloured vinyl edition. I think its the Russell Mael like quality to McNerney’s vocals on this one that got me all excited and its certainly more gothic synth wave than apocalyptic death rock, although rest assured a gloomy undertone is never far away.
‘Lead Balloons’ and ‘Imminent Collapse’ follow, the former a sombre and majestic lament to (amongst other things) the death of ’84 and the latter continuing the hi-hat driven anthemic theme which is strong throughout ‘Plagueboys’ has me bizarrely thinking of early (that’s pre-Eno) U2.
The first of the album’s video teasers ‘Society of Spectres’ is up next, and this is a tune that has really grown on me of late, it’s another riotous gothic romp, that if I’m honest I probably had more issue with over the (what sounds to my OCD brain like) slightly out of tune vocals on the verses than anything else and just like the band said previously, its another track that sounds wrong and right all at the same time.
As ‘Plagueboys’ arrives at its final trio of tracks ‘Conspiracy of Love’ is the type of gloomy epic that The Cure has been filling stadiums with for decades now and at almost six minutes in length it is not only the most expansive track on offer here, but also the most Beastmilk-like in fact it also reminds me of their ex-touring buddies In Solitude here too. The album’s title track delivers a more succinct message touching on 80s pop in the melody department, it’s a pulsating headrush that sets the scene perfectly for album closer ‘Tears on The Camera Lens’ a tune which hints at what Joy Division might have sounded like if they were formed in Helsinki instead of Salford.
‘Plagueboys’ is a terrific celebration of everything great in gothic music in 2023, albeit it’s probably going to take a few listens for you to truly discover just how amazing a record it is.
Me, I’m never watching or listening to a preview video ever again. Ha!
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Author: Johnny Hayward
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