Post by The Curmudgeon on Jul 19, 2009 1:31:39 GMT 2
Kiss your ears goodbye.
A bit of personal information first; The Curmudgeon discovered Rasmio, Stratos and Evilplaymobils, AKA Greek noise polluters Exposed By Observers on Myspace and fell in love with them instantly. Their music was only demo quality at the time, but the raw, squawking vocals and manic electro buzz made my head ache and my heart pound. True story - I was asleep on a train listening to this band and their music gave me a nightmare.
So their official debut EP was always going to be a top priority for me, and after months of waiting, weeks of delays and false release dates, the band finally gave the whole thing away for free on their website. That's punk-rock ideals right there, but was the finished article worth the wait?
The answer is clear about four seconds into the opening track, Almost Celebrities, which sounds like your favourite rock song played by ninjas from outer space. A ferocious electro monster, its followed by S.I.C.K, a song that should be the soundtrack to Transformers 3. It just screams "hit song" with every note, and could have every trendy indie kid dancing like lunatics. That is if they're not already cracking their heads off walls listening to "Athens Calling", an insane attack on the aural senses, it's impossible to know what the hell Rasmio is going on about, but you'll be too busy feeling blood trickle from your ears to care.
Gonna Wait Outside is another slice of frantic future-punk noise, a combination of buzzsaw headbanging synths and the sort of vocals you normally hear in death-threat telephone calls, and the EP ends with the pounding, visceral "In My Skin", which sounds like the Sex Pistols from the year 4000. And then, like when the house finally stops spinning and Dorothy says "oh" - it's over. You're safe, you've survived.
Sonic punk with a digital edge to rape the listeners ears (their words) has never seemed so appealing. And best of all, you lucky people, it's all for free on their Myspace page.
So what will become of Exposed By Observers? A cult band with a dedicated fanbase or the Next Big Thing? Impossible to say, but with this Secondhand Youth EP, they've easily made one of the essential records of 2009. Embrace the future.
