Last week I posted in the Post Punk New No Wave Noise Rock Facebook page asking for recommendations for some new post-punk music. I got a ton of recommendations and I am wading my way through. Earlier this week, I wrote about Last Sadness that was recommended by Josh Hines. You can find that here. Today I’m listening to Snapped Ankles, brought to you by group member Stefan Wenger.
My limited experience with what post-punk has become has left me woefully unprepared for what I’m about to hear. I expect the Cure, or maybe Modern English, or Psychedelic Furs. When I popped on Forest of Your Problems by Snapped Ankles I was blown away. This is not your mother’s post-punk band. Not only are they enigmatic as a group, once performing in ghillie suits, but this album breaks all convention. (or perhaps the convention has simply embraced all the movement in the early 80s with synthesizers and keyboards.) It’s part punk, post punk, dance and elektronica, among others.
This record is bristling with energy and bursting at the seams. The album begins with the title track and some slow building percussive elements- nothing amazing, but sets the tone. Where the album really gets going is on the second track, The Evidence. Again, comes in with cool percussion before kicking in with a very catchy keyboard groove. It’s peppy and engaging. The lines revolving around “the evidence” are sung reminiscently of the late 70s punk.
Shifting Basslines of the Cornucopians is the third track and one that embraces a true punk lyric aesthetic. The song calls out big business and those who make profit off the poor. My favorite line, “Sometimes you’re the pigeon, sometimes you’re the statue” is clever and reminds me of the Pearl Jam lyric, “Don’t know whether I’m the boxer or the bag.” This one is a little more visual. The song has some cool drum beats and a deep base line that sounds eerily similar to a tuba. Very cool. Check out the video: