The debut release of HTRK, Nostalgia, is being reissued by Fire Records on Friday. The album is abrasive and nearly impossible to describe without resorting to certain comparison points from the past. That the album works so well at creating an unsettling vibe is something to be admired though.
"Look What's Been Done" has muted vocals under a buzzing, whirring mechanical noise, with only the proto-drums here suggesting that this is a tune at all, while "Look at Her" is even more primitive, a clanging mess being pulled into some form by the players here. HTRK are intent on disturbing a listener and I think that's an admirable quality in a band in this era. "You Injured Me" throbs in a manner that echoes moments on the earliest Jesus and Mary Chain recordings, as well as those from Throbbing Gristle. "Look Down the Line" is the only selection on Nostalgia with something even approaching a traditional guitar-line about it. Still, the number is, like everything here, the sound of a David Lynch nightmare, the disturbing and disjointed pieces of a post-punk form brought back to hideous life again. I loved this.
Nostalgia is out tomorrow via Fire Records.
[Photo: Fire Records]