Deap Vally certainly aren’t afraid to say what needs to be said, and they do it with style and wit.
Every which way you turn on Sistrionix there's something to draw you in: it could be an earworm axe lick, a fist-pumpin' beat from Edwards or the golden wordsmithery.
Playing off the two sparse elements of the band with thrashing aggression, much of this album is grating series of notes held up by crashing drums and Troy’s unstoppable vocals that roar and screech in one onslaught.
They’ve given the folk-drenched musical world of the last few years a well timed kick in the balls.
If there's a flaw here, it's that there's little change from song to song in pace and approach, but then, this is a duo built around simply hitting the pedal and going, clattering and thundering along, impossible to ignore.
It’s always refreshing to hear some pent-up, no-holds-barred rock ‘n’ roll, and Deap Vally are pretty good at it.
Despite the record’s flaws, it’s hard to stay angry with Sistrionix for very long. It’s ferociously played, sensitively recorded and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Sistrionix could be a foundation for something much better or something infinitely worse, but for now Deap Vally don’t particularly deserve your hate or your love.
Mostly, though, the music on ‘Sistrionix’ is plain bad.
Really not bad, solid bluesy rock with crunchy riffs and solid drumming. The vocals are animated and soulful, and it's structured well as an album with a solid finish. Feels like The White Stripes if they were fronted by a woman.
I like indie, pop and electronic as much as the next guy but the world needs more bands like this. Sit back and expect to get kicked squarely in the balls for 45 minutes!!
#36 | / | NME |