Dutch alternative rock band De Staat burst upon the scene in 2008 with their Wait For Evolution album, an adventurous rock album that covered all bases of the field, including a couple of new ones that were discovered by Torre Florim, who had been working on and of on this project for eight years. While that one was basically a solo album, with a couple of friends helping out with background vocals and the odd guitar bit and bass line, the follow-up Machinery is a group effort, with Florim still very much in control.
De Staat sound like nobody else, but they sound like a lot bands thrown together, without losing focus and clarity. Think Grinderman mixing with Tom Waits, the Pixies, the Black Keys, and early Talking Heads. A self declared mix of Dead Weather and Steve Reich, Machinery sounds industrial and heavy, enlivened with a catchy back beat for a songs like Psycho Disco. The Black Sabbath monster riffs of Serial Killer and Rooster-Man could have been used for an updated soundtrack for Fritz Lang's M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder.
Machinery sounds even tighter than it's predecessor. The band members fit like a jigsaw. You can see the linesbetween the pieces, but not single note is allowed to escape. Every sound affect, guitar line or seemingly random vocal part adds a bit of colour to the picture. The album runs for a little over 40 minutes, a sonic assault that will have you pressing repeat. And repeat. And repeat. If Brecht and Weill had been alive today, they would have sounded like De Staat.
De Staat:
Rocco Bell: special FX, keys & percussion
Tim van Delft: drums
Torre Florim: vocals, guitar
Vedran Mircetic: guitar
Jop van Summeren: bass, vocals
Kelly: vocals on "Sweatshop"
Machinery is released on Mascot Records on March 4 (March 7 in the UK on Cool Green Recordings).
Tracks:- Ah I See
- Sweatshop
- I'll Never Marry You
- Old MacDonald Don't Have No Farm No More
- I'm A Rat
- Keep Me Home
- Tumbling Down
- Psycho Disco
- Rooster-Man
- Serial Killer
- Back To The Grind
De Staat will be on tour in Europe, kicking off in February supporting Triggerfinger. The band tour the UK in April. Tour dates include London Camden Barfly (Wed April 6th), Manchester The Deaf Institute (Thurs April 7th), Nottingham The Bodega (Friday April 8th) and Bristol The Louisiana (Sat April 9th). 24 Ticket Hotline: 0845 413 4444, Book Online: alt-tickets.co.uk.
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