by Jonathan Bannister (@j_utah)
Is anyone else feeling anxious these days? Anyone picking up on any sense of general unease in the world at large? It feels pretty unsettling out there. It also feels like the consistent new wave of excellent post-punk bands is related to all the uncertainty. A lot of post-punk always felt both of its time and ahead of its time. Like they knew the issues of the day would only just mutate, evolve into something worse. To listen to something like The Normal’s “Warm Leatherette,” Young Marble Giants’ “Final Day,” or Public Image Limited’s “Swan Lake” is to hear yesterday and today. The future as interpreted by the past.
This all comes to mind when listening to Person, the new album from P.E. out on Wharf Cat Records. P.E. is a new band featuring members of Pill and Eaters. A sort of Temple of the Dog for the Brooklyn art punk scene, joining forces to create something familiar from each respective band, but new and exploratory. Person is twelve tracks of no wave/post-punk informed jitteriness. The records is loose and chaotic, giving voice to that unnamed sense of dread we all feel in the pit of our stomachs as we navigate our daily lives. Percussive electronic beats mashed up with saxophone, bass, and vocals. A blending of digital and analogue that makes up much of our lives. Warm and cold like navigating human emotions in a life lived on computers. The life of a city where all the residents are tied to their mobile devices.
There is a sense of the experimental and improvised throughout the entire album. The sense of a group of musicians unsure of what’s next but figuring it out together in a rehearsal space, jamming together until something gelled and formed and was created out of that searching. The lyrics feel off the cuff, picked for tonal quality and sound rather than meaning. Then again, maybe the meaning just eludes like so much in our day to day. The point lost in translation or just sitting underneath, left unsaid because you can’t quite put your finger on it.
The album almost feels framed like a day in the life. “Mandarin” opens up the album like a bomb dropping into your living room. It’s a rude awakening to the day. The bass on “Machine, Machine” pulls you in. A human element making its presence known and also contrasting what you’ve heard up to that point. “Top Ticket” is probably what brings to mind “Warm Leatherette”. That hard rhythm and similar drum cadence. Electronics like machinery operating in a factory. “Vinaigrette” closes out the first half of the day, that moment when dusk gives way to night. The last rays of sun fading fast behind the faceless buildings.
The back half of the album feels a little more subdued. If the first half is all daytime frenzy, then the back half is that frenzy giving way to nighttime contemplation. “How does one learn to tread water in an emergency?” Veronica Torres asks to open the second half of the album. How indeed? The rest of songs feel like they’re trying to answer that question. “Expectations” conjure up scenes of rain soaked streets, steam rising from manhole covers while unknown industry sounds provide ambiance that unknown hum of the city. “Soft Dance” provides maybe the most melodic portions of the album. “We dance to forget our heads” Torres sings. It feels like as good of a mission statement as any. “Shimmy” is all jazz improv with the vibe of a Makaya McCraven sample laden song, playful and fun. Then there’s “Pink Shiver” with its bass line that feels a little funky. A sauntering groove coming out from of the chaos.
While framing it as a day/night feeling, taken as a whole album, the title Person also makes a lot of sense. Within these twelve songs is all that makes a person up: fear, anxiety, nervousness, but also beauty, creation, and dancing, and sex. All the various ways we work on coping with our existence in this tactile world. It’s okay to be uncertain and scared and it’s also okay to laugh and dance and still create. To not let the worry rob you of your joy. P.E. invite you to live and feel and take it all in before it’s time to wake up and do it all again.