by Conor Lochrie (@conornoconnor)
When you combine members of former Brooklyn outfit Pill alongside members of Eaters and you don’t have your band name be Pill Eaters, you lose a lot of goodwill; lucky, then, that their new EP, The Reason for My Love, is an intense and tight collection of dance-punk that will have you yearning for the dancefloor but fearing it also.
Veronica Torres, Jonathan Campolo, and Ben Jaffe from Pill joined forces with Jonathan Schenke and Bob Jones of Eaters last year, releasing their debut album Person in March 2020, just as the world turned to madness. This follow-up EP is haunted by a jittery energy that completely fits the uncertainty of these last eighteen months. Scattered as the members were around the US, the tracks started as sketches made by individuals in the group remotely during the pandemic before they all got together in February 2021 to shape them into a cohesive record.
Although this is a five-track EP, there are only three original tracks, with the title track being reworked with a Xiu Xiu remix and then a Paparazzi dub by the band to close the record. Kicking off with ‘The Reason for My Love,’ the sound skews close to post-punk but is probably closer to no wave; that is to say, we are presented with a squalid barrage of noise. Intense bursts of zipping synths and powerful blasts of sax flirt with each other in an infectious mess. It’s jittery and skittish but groovy, also recalling the hedonistic dance-punk of the early 00’s.
“Move me” is the repeated refrain in ‘Shadow Side,’ a dark dance piece. Sharp electro slashes cut through ‘Beauty Queen Boy,’ heaving sax flowing over the beats as Veronica mutters sultrily, “Devotion. Devotion. Devotion.” Indeed, this is an EP alluring in an unnerving and mysterious way. The extended remixes at the end only enhance this, Xiu Xiu’s version running wild and free, spinning and splintering into the nighttime.
Given their truncated recording process, the shared vision of P.E.’s EP is astounding. All collaborate expertly in these tracks, knowing exactly the overarching atmosphere they want to (and do) achieve. Expect to hear the alluring siren songs from The Reason for My Love around Brooklyn bars in the months to come.