New to these shores they may be, but Melbourne-based trio Love Of Diagrams have actually been around for six years. They’re about to release their second long-play record, Mosaic, so I guess we should have been paying attention earlier.
"Why?", I hear you ask?
Well it's quite simple, really: if you have any liking for DIY artsy punk such as The Raincoats or The Slits and find the avant-garde, off-kilter shout-first-and-shout-back-twice-as-loud new-wave musings of Le Tigre and The Rogers Sisters enthralling and invigorating, you should have already have fallen head over heels for this.
This self-titled EP features four tracks in total and every one is a winner, from the opening jerk-pop-throttle of 'Pace And The Patience' to 'The Pyramid' and its finely deconstructed rhythms that come on like Siouxsie And The Banshees played through a two-step sampling machine. 'Cool' is pretty much as its name suggests, which is pretty damn good going considering it's a cover version (albeit an obscure one). The best is saved 'til last, though, with 'No Way Out' jumping and flailing incessantly like a hyperactive toddler on liquid ecstasy.
Spread the Love Of Diagrams. You know it makes sense...
Love Of Diagrams play live in London this month:
March
10 Chalk @ The Scala
12 Hoxton Square Bar & Grill
13 Art Rocker @ Buffalo Bar
Tuneless and boring
Half-digested influences and surprisingly poor production (Matador *&%$ing with my ears on this one?) don't help these "songs" much, but nothing was going to save them anyway. I heard waaaay too much of this garbage in the 90s. Belting out "the pace and the patience" (seemingly the only lyrics to the song) over and over with no real tune to hold on to doesn't make for an interesting, or even tolerable listen. Totally disagree on this one.
i'm with you on this
half-baked directionless and boring.
OUGHT to be good but isn't.
simple.
Sounds right up my alley,
it's about time I dusted off my Artrocker card, anyone else up for it?
let me tell you...
mosaic is fucking terrific. really tight, wow, yes they have influences, they use them so well though. it's pretty rockin anyway so i like listening to it. this ep is good
Simply
one of the best EPs I've heard so far this year.
As dickgard says, they have influences - who doesn't - but they use them in a way that creates a pretty distinctive sound of their own.
I think
I need that...
i agree with you Dom
and said as much in this review my a fanzine:
yeah, these guys had me suckered in the moment i saw their record cover. can i stress to all bands lurking out there wondering just how to get:
a. noticed and then
b. signed and then
c. remixed by someone far cooler than them like dfa or justice to get them even more acclaim
that it is extremely helpful to have a cool-as-fuck cover for your record. for in an age of digital, throwaway downloads that'll end up lost, forgotten and sandwiched in your itunes somewhere between "the theme to quantum leap" and ultrasound's "floodlit world", it's sure nice to actually own something that you'll still remember was good some 2 weeks later
in fact, if i'd not known better i'd have said these guys had been copying the (now sadly out of print) "manual to being a vaguely successful alternative indie rock band" by ikara colt (r.i.p).
• great record covers that'll probably bankrupt them or their label? check
• spiky, energetic lo-fi post-punk tunes that sound satisfyingly unfinished yet wholly lovable? double check
• split male / female vocals and howling guitar bits? check, check and... indeed... check
• a career of playing to a devout group of adoring / whinging people like me who constantly bemoan that they're not famous or appreciated enough (probably for the said reasons above)? check, and check thrice more
goddamn it... well i'm doing my bit - now it's your turn people
Nice words
and bang on too!
Have you heard their first album from 2001? I got it over the weekend and it's basically post(punk)rock minus the vocals, if you can imagine that. Some good riffs, obviously needed the addition of some voiceovers, which they've now got, so yeah...all good.
first album...
sheesh, there's my dodgy research again, I thought this was their first full e.p.!!!
i'll be sure to check it out - has anyone seen them live?
I wasn't aware
of them prior to this EP, but they've actually got a few EPs out spread across various labels from '01 onwards.
yes.
and they're great!
I can so JAG this...
...by saying that The Passport Label put out their only previous UK release in Nov 05. I could also point you in the direction of www.myspace.com/thepassportlabel, or I could also say that Mosaic is also great, both the music and the artwork.
LIVE
they are excellent!
agreed
really liked them live. i want to get this new ep now.
think i'll be heading over to that artrocker gig!