EP Review :: dressmaker - Glass

dressmaker

Glass

June 23 2014 (self-release)

9.5/10

Words: Dave Beech

A running-time of seven minutes is ambitious for any single, let alone for a band's debut release, but with 'Skeleton Girl' that is exactly what London's dressmaker did last year. For lesser bands that might have been fatal, for these four from Hackney, however, it was a stroke of genius.

Beginning with an intro of drums and distorted feedback, 'Skeleton Girl' drips with caustic underproduction that really doesn't lend itself well to a lead single, nor in fact, does the entire first third of the track; a disconcerting paranoia perpetuated by singer Charles Potashner, before the first chorus explodes and all at once it's obvious why XFM picked the track up on its release last year, and why they didn't request a shorter version. Length aside, this is every bit a lead single - at least for the final five minutes.

Fortunately, whilst it might not be the shortest of tracks, its positioning at the end of the EP allows one to ready themselves for the sheer magnitude of the record's climax. Not that dressmaker like to ease anyone in gently, mind you, the eponymous opening track 'Glass' is an aggressive and relentless progression; an ever-present wall of noise that twists and morphs and concludes with a cacophonous ending that's a far cry from that track it started life as.

Not happy to stick just to one genre, 'The Future' sees the band entering a psych-punk furore; the guitars somewhat evocative of a deranged version of Dead Kennedys' 'Police Truck'; the vocals ranging from Frank Black to GG Allin. At three-and-a-half minutes, it's the shortest track on the EP, and that's probably a good thing. For all its twisted brilliance, any longer and one might find themselves at risk of flashbacks in later life.

Like the bastard baby of the two tracks it proceeds, 'We Breathe' blends together the band's love of frenetic and off-kilter post-punk with their tendency to veer off in to uncharted realms of psychedelia, flitting between the two with schizophrenic precision in what's the final push before the epic 'Skeleton Girl'

'Glass' is a difficult EP to put into words (which you may find hard to believe given the 374 which you've already read), and it may not be a record that's to everyone's tastes, but with all the current post-punk that seems to be enjoying an inevitable resurgence at the moment, it's refreshing to hear something so aggressive, yet so atmospheric, whilst at times just plain weird. dressmaker are a band who have the confidence not just break convention, but down right disregard it, a trait they share in common with some of the most important bands of the last 30 years.