by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Brunswick, Australia’s Hooper Crescent are relying on a formula with their second album, Essential Tremors. While the quintet could have returned to the guitar heavy tangled post-punk of their debut, they’ve opted to push into new territories, exploring a different set of sounds while keeping their established framework in tact. With their new album due out on February 23rd via Spoilsport Records (Dragnet, Kosmetika, Quality Used Cars) and Earth Libraries (Sleeping Bag, Sonny Falls, Pelvis Wrestley), the band are pushing the arty exploration and it works really well with their razor sharp post-punk. While “Late Night TV,” Essential Tremors’ lead single was a vibrant punk song with jagged riffs and corrosive guitars, “Karaoke Love” is a step into the unknown for Hooper Crescent.
Built on synth and drum machine beats, “Karaoke Love” is a different piece of the puzzle, a new texture in the band’s pulsating drive. The song feels like a woozy and disoriented disco tune, setting the tone with an electronic rhythm before the the psychedelic haze comes rolling in. The rubbery push and pull of the synths amid stuttering bleeps and the skittering of programmed hi-hats comes to create something enchanting, a lush backing for the band’s multi-vocal approach. The hooks warble with Sam Cummins’ voice at the forefront, but the song continues to unfold in new shapes with each passing moment, coming to a warped and wonderful finale.