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  AlterModerns: Side Effects Of Reality – Album Review

  Brazilian via Bristol art-punk garage-psych duo AlterModerns make good on their promise and deliver a stripped-back punch-filled debut album of politically personal declarations.

  AlterModerns hit our radar full-on nearly a year back when our very own Ged Babey tipped them for cult success. They have quickly become one of his favourite acts of recent years through their intense live shows. “Inventive psych meets art-punk sound,” said Ged back when he turned me on to them and their debut album, Side Effects Of Reality, doubles down on it, pulling together their various singles from the last year or so with more new tunes to immerse yourself in. They deal in stripped-to-the-bone, bare and crunching blues-driven garage psych full of personal and political proclamations that make the album a riot from start to finish.

  They kick off proceedings with last year’s single, She’s Not Yours, described on its release as a feminist empowerment anthem that highlights the duo’s garage art-punk and inventive psych mix. It’s a hard-hitting opener that sets out their stall perfectly as they crash through the first side, the couple playing between each other vocally. When they hit Showcase, they bring in an almost flamenco-lament rhythm as they dissect the impact of a capitalist system that urges us to shop, consume and adorn ourselves aesthetically while we break inside. It’s clear that, although their medium may be stripped down, their message is one to be shouted from rooftops.

  On the single Overdose Of You, they manage to pull in a sinewy new-wave groove, like a parred-back Punishment Of Luxury, all pounding beats and wiry guitar lines that run beneath a cautionary tale of losing one’s sense of self by absorbing the personality of another. They fly out of it and straight into the raucous Wednesday, really showcasing their proto-punk side on a song that berates the working class week, driving into dust that modern syndrome of being over-worked and under-valued. However, AlterModerns’ focus is not one of self-centred preoccupation, but one of community, something that they bring to the fore on the twisting The Others. It’s seemingly a missive at the recent past of their home country of Brazil and completes a trio of tunes that takes them from the personal to the political step by step.

  Nearing the close, Mind Your Head takes a more desert-psych turn before they sign off with Unmaterial World, a title that hammers home their manifesto. It grooves slowly, snaking and winding through hypnotic shifts.

  On Side Effects Of Reality, Glauco Caruso and Ananda Kuhn give us rich fruits of their labour. They are a band that live their music, producing songs that reflect clearly their outlook. As a couple, they are slowly but surely becoming an art-punk force to be reckoned with. With more projects on the go, including opening their own art space, as we said back at the beginning of the year, Altermoderns are definitely ones to watch.

  As they sing on Walk Alone, we don’t need borders, religion or prejudice, just to be free.

  Review from Louder Than War website

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  por JaneBarnes59