Dead Boomers – Aspen Liberals

Dead Boomers – Aspen Liberals CD Cipher Productions 2022

Dead Boomers – an Australian duo of Leith Thomas and Mark Groves – may be (‘cough’) dead, but Aspen Liberals functions as a compilation to collect together a selection of material from 2015-2020. This includes previously released tracks and others issued for the first time here. But prior to getting into the details of the release, to my mind, Dead Boomers always had a uniquely Australian edge. With the snide slang of the project’s chosen name (which incidentally pre-dates the ‘OK Boomer’ phrase by a decade), thematically the project has then been concerned with localised societal themes which sardonically address: the housing market; financial/banking systems; the wealthy upper-class; the ruling conservative political party (the ‘Liberals’); and the broader societal influence and interests of the ‘baby boomer’ generation. It is this approach I have found strongly satisfying, which contained serious observations and on occasion humorously deadpan commentary, which is far removed from more typical themes within the post-industrial underground.

As a general observation the overt and unhinged aggression of some of the earlier output (such as strongly displayed on the debut album The Pig In the Python), has been dialed down a few notches. This then functions to put the controlled method of sonic composition clearly on display. Despite the material on Aspen Liberals being culled from numerous recording sessions, it hangs together surprisingly well and spans a number of composed power electronics cuts, and a larger number of subdued, experimental spoken word and post-industrial soundscapes. With regard to the power electronics focus, Half Windsor and Escorted from the Building are both anthemic standouts with their rhythmic fist-pumping pulse, scrabbling scrap metal noise, and raw spat vocals. A Gentle Occasion is also of a power electronics frame of reference and uses simplistic structures of maximum effect, with a mid-paced pulse, minimalist noise and gruff bellowed voice. Yet in opposition to these focused tracks, other cuts like Afternoon Film Club focus on post-industrial soundscapes of rumble and echo, while the deadpan spoken vocals provide a detached observational commentary. The spoken word and almost musique concrete backing of Annual Rite perhaps leans towards some of Mark’s separate recorded works, while Place of the Pink Seashells has a tensile creeping atmosphere based around sustained drones and (perhaps?) atonal piano note. The album is rounded out with the monolithic 28-minute title track, which charts numerous segments across its span, including: unhinged clawing distortion; tensile drones; sparse experimental soundscapes; processed field recordings; spoken word narrative, and media reporting sampling.

The full-colour dig-pack and printed booklet functions to further illustrate the atypical approach of Dead Boomers within the underground, while full lyrics and notes on the meaning behind the title are included for suitable context. Given Aspen Liberals appears to be a swansong release, it is an excellent final document of the later era of the project and absolutely worthy of your attention even if you have not checked out Dead Boomers earlier.

Totenrune / Sarin Snow – श्रवो अक्षितम् / Κλέος Άφθιτον

Totenrune / Sarin Snow – श्रवो अक्षितम् / Κλέος Άφθιτον 7”ep Novichok 2022

Here is a quick dose of Novichok poison, being another split 7″ep in the ongoing series. This release sees the Australian Totenrune paired with the American Sarin Snow, who have each sought to thematically focus on a warrior archetype derived from the ancient world.

Totenrune leads off with an instrumental track based around muted buzzing oscillations which are partially buried under multitudes of raw metallic textures and general static fizz. Being consistently seething and edging towards the chaotic, the layering still remains paced and controlled, while equally infused with a distant and hollow tone. Despite the general bulk and heft of the track’s layering, the end result is far less brute force than other material I heard from Totenrune, here achieving imposing industrial noise result. Sarin Snow then takes up the flip side, which is immediately characterised by a queasy and swaying synth line, further blended with sparse and echoed metallic clatter, faint rhythmic pulse, tensile drone, and numerous other crumbling textures. The ominous vocals feature as another layer of distortion smear, and while being unintelligible, all the same they give the strong impression of being a harbinger of doom.

With both tracks focusing on generally controlled and contemplative atmospheres, each project duly impresses on this short split, and again commendably demonstrates the strength of Novichok’s label vision. Double-sided, pro-printed sleeve and insert rounds out the presentation.