HTRK - Nostalgia
by Andrew Carver
published: 4 / 7 / 2007
Label:
Fire Records
Format: CD
intro
Evocatively desolate debut mini album from Australian group HTRK, who have drawn comparisons with both the Birthday Party and Joy Division
Anyone who listens to HTRK’s ‘Nostalgia’ will be forgiven for putting the year of release two decades before the actual date. The crackling tape, omnipresent reverb and crashes of lead track ‘Hate Rock Trio’ sounds like a refugee from an early Skinny Puppy demo. It serves as a taster for the wasteland theme music to come. ‘Look What’s Been Done’ features ultracrisp drum noises and a muscular bass line that echoes Germanic predecessors like Die Haut. Singer Jonnine Standish throws in a few inarticulate gasps and there’s a moan of e-bowed guitar. Standish’s disaffected vocals battle for attention with electronic squeals and process guitar while the bass continues its slow, grim plod. The thudding bass, drugged moans, guitar gristle and tin can drums could have been a recipe for disaster, but in HTRK’s hands they’re a brilliant evocative combination. The up-and-coming trio has garnered a few comparisons to the Birthday Party. Perhaps it’s because of their Australian origins, a fondness for noisy scree and former Party guitarist Rowland S. Howard’s production work on their upcoming full length. But Joy Division is the better jumping off point: HTRK lack the Party’s furious bile and destructive sound. ‘Nostalgia’ is black and white film, empty factories, desolation. It’s a cold wind blowing through an abandoned industrial park (and no, you can’t dance to it). It’s a superb premonition of doom for the band’s first full length, ‘Marry Me Tonight’.
Track Listing:-
1 Hate Rock Trio2 Look What's Been Done
3 Look Down The Line
4 Look At That Girl
5 Look At Her
6 You Injured Me
7 I'm All Broke Up
Label Links:-
https://twitter.com/firerecordingshttps://www.facebook.com/Firerecords
http://www.firerecords.com/
https://firerecords.bandcamp.com/
https://instagram.com/fire_records/
https://www.youtube.com/user/FirerecordsUK
reviews |
Nostalgia (2019) |
Reissue on vinyl of post-punk Melbourne trio HTRk's 2004 abrasive mini-album debut release |
most viewed articles
current edition
The Church - Interview with Steve KilbeySimon Heavisides - Destiny Stopped Screaming: The Life and Times of Adrian Borland
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #15- On Being Dignified and Old aka Ten Tips From Jah Wobble On How To Be Happy.
Jack Roscoe - Interview
Vetchinsky Settings - Interview
Near Jazz Experience - Interview
Liam Gallagher and John Squire - Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 16/3/2024
Nico - Profile
Sami Sumner - Interview
Doug Dillard Expedition - Live At The Hotel Fremont, Las Vegas, September 1970
most viewed reviews
current edition
Lewis 'Burner' Pugh - Bullets for BreadKula Shaker - Natural Magick
Ian Hunter - Defiance Part 2: Fiction
David Cross Band - Ice Blue Silver Sky
Ty Segall - Three Bells
Smalltown Tigers - Crush On You
Beyonce - Cowboy Carter
Vampire Weekend - Only God Was Above Us
Hillbilly Moon Explosion - Back in Time
Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes - Dark Rainbow
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart