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Shiny Darkly

Little Earth

Written by: PP on 20/05/2014 22:02:37

If you like your music enshrouded in post-punk pretentiousness that sounds as authentic new wave from the 80s as Joy Division ever did, then Shiny Darkly is your answer. At least in Denmark. People rave about iceage and their noisy post-punk expression, but the truly interesting sound is found within the psychedelic realms of "Little Earth", the best release by Shiny Darkly so far. It adds in bits of shoegaze and space rock as well where necessary, resulting in an echoing soundscape with dizzying guitars reverberating near and far the listener at the same time. It sounds super pretentious, but also surprisingly enjoyable in its own right.

Most of this is attributable to their vocalist Kristoffer Bech, whose arrogant vocal delivery makes it sound like he doesn't care at all - this meant in a positively charged manner in this context. In general the ambiance from his vocals oozes of similar atmosphere as in cult movie 24 Hour Party People, which is about the birth of Factory Music, Joy Division/New Order and that sort of thing. For anyone who's seen that movie the connection between Shiny Darkly's sound and the scenes depicted in that movie are obvious, but let's just say there's a whole lot of Joy Division and New Order worship going on here, not to mention the occasional references to The Cure and other influential names of that era.

But despite the lack of originality in this sense (or shall we just call it revivalism?), the band's slow to mid-tempo expression manages to convince its listener during the nine tracks on offer. The songs are very samey in their sound but that is also the point; this is all about atmosphere building and upholding the red thread of the soundscape throughout the album. The late 70s/early 80s English mood is very well reconstructed throughout and sounds authentic, which is sublime considering the band's origin is in Denmark. If you can get past the hipster vibes and iceage similarities, "Little Earth" is a very decent post-punk album overall.

Download: Animal Fate, This Frail Creature
For the fans of: Joy Division, iceage, The Cure
Listen: Facebook

Release date 31.03.2014
Crunchy Frog