by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
London synth punk band Es has arrived with Less of Everything, their full length debut, due out on April 3rd via Upset The Rhythm (Primo!, Handle, Kaputt), and it’s a bold statement in our age of constant overexposure. Regardless if the title deals with minimalism within our reality or within their skeletal punk songs, there’s no distractions within their debut, just primal focused post-punk that’s tense, commanding, and eager to disrupt any sense of complacency. The band - Maria Cecilia Tedemalm (vocals), Katy Cotterell (bass), Tamsin M. Leach (drums) and Flora Watters (keyboards) - keep a close focus, opting to create a claustrophobic aura with thick as bricks bass and ominous synths that underline Tedemalm’s sharp lyricism, pointed against systematic oppression, self-serving individuals, and destructive personalities.
Highlights such as “Off The Rails” with it’s rapidly mesmerizing bass throb and harshly delivered yelp and lead single “Chemical” (with it’s Wipers-esque introduction) set the tone for the record, the caustic energy pushed to the forefront, everything tipped into the red with an impenetrable density. Produced by Lindsay Corstorphine (Sauna Youth, Primitive Parts), there’s an intentionally muddy quality to Es’ music, but everything is recorded with it’s own layered space and clarity. It’s the arrangements themselves on songs like “Severed” and the swirling dirge of “Kingdom Come” that work to throw all sensibility out the window, opting to lock you into their impeccably tight swarm of intelligently sparse noise and controlled chaos.