Squab
What Happened Then
2001 Squab
www.squabmusic.com
In the past year a resurgence of music often labeled as "New Wave",
has been given its turn on the revivalist platter. Typically referred to as
the movement that followed the loud, cacophonous days of 1970's Punk, New
Wave allowed for a more stylized pursuit of music, exuding a certain amount
of glamour that Punk had sought to destroy. As in most typologies of music
culture, minor offshoots like Dark Wave (Often lumped in with Goth) and No
Wave quickly followed the New Wave phenomena, sharing with it an attraction
to keyboards and its bleak Modern styling.
"New Wave", "No Wave", "Dark Wave", "What Wave?", blah, blah, blah... You get the picture, right? O.K. this is after all a music review and not a history lesson, but it seemed appropriate to preface with some historical tid-bits as I am about to crown Squab the "Now Wave" queens of today.
Squab's 2001 release What Happened Then seems an appropriate title for a band that is taking the corpses of New Wave and Dark Wave and fucking them in the ass. The album consists of nine solid tracks, all of which utilize the slickness of New Wave, blend it with Dark Wave's angsty crooning and then cut them up using Punk Rock's ragged edge (how this all gets reassembled, I have no idea).
In the track "Nervous System Itch", a droning synth mixes it up with dirge-like percussion, laying a volatile base for haunting vocals that neither shout nor whisper. In "Metamorphosis", a much angrier tug of war between the instruments and vocals insues, creating a tumbling, rant-piece about unfulfilled desire, and psychological dislocation. The sludgy synth oozes in each Squab melody and is neither over-produced nor clichéd as is the case with many of the New Wave revival bands around today. However, it is neither the keyboards nor the dark, introspective vocals, which make Squab "The New" of the New Wave/Dark Wave revival scene. The songs on What Happened Then are fairly similar, with no obvious "A-Side" choices for a single to be found. Perhaps this is what makes it seem so well assembled, and so complete- The product doesn't lie by presenting the listener with one great hit, in a pile of trash, like the bands of the original New Wave movement did. Nor does it mope about forlornly, slashing at it's wrists like Dark Wave. Instead the ladies of Squab have taken a different, more interesting road by choosing to create an album that can in some ways be perceived as one long, grating, self-empowering journey. It is a singular affair about beating the beast that torments you, instead of flailing about helplessly in its grasp. This is not to say that everything on What Happened Then sounds identical or is at all light in air, but instead it illustrates that Squab has created a unique texture all their own, which has enabled them to transcend style and produce a work that is both powerful and exploratory- not something the original New Wave was particularly good at. Squab's music eschews the one hit wonder syndrome, by consistently building the music around the listener, allowing for them to draw their own conclusions, rather than being lead by a glossy overcoat. The last track on What Happened Then concludes with "Unfaithful Prophecies"- a construction that perhaps eludes to Squab's next sonic attack at the stylistic reincarnations of modern music.
The hook?
There are no vocals.
-John Southern