Good things come in small, strange packages—like the debut self-titled by Brisbane, Australia’s DEAFCULT, a six-piece guitar group of powerful proportions. Their enamored yet violent flow persists without interruption on the seven tracks contained, reaching a satiated climax by the closing track “TURING.” Unison male-female vocals just barely make themselves known above a bed of roaring treble and blistering bass, calling to mind the late-80s power-pop shoegaze of bands like Galaxie 500 and My Bloody Valentine. Breaking away from the dreamy consistency of those free-flowing, listless records, however, DEAFCULT possesses absolute urgency, seemingly responding to an impending sense of doom.
Despite the bleak ambiguity of seething chord progressions that bend and blur into one another as an often indecipherable droning, particularly on tracks “AKIRA” and “HEATHEN FLOW,” the record maintains an air of defiant positivity, expressing exhilaration and euphoria in the face of possible peril. It’s most clear on “SAFETY MATCHES,” a tranquil number that picks up with an oceanic humming of guitars and one buoyant bassline before submitting to the controlled chaos that defines this record. “TURING,” to be featured on Beko Disques forthcoming compilation Do It Better Volume 2.
The Fat Angel Sings 