Album Review: Arctic Flowers – Straight To The Hunter

Arctic Flowers will be self releasing their latest full length, Straight To The Hunter, in the US on the 30th November and a European release will follow via German label Sabotage Records. For nearly a decade the Portland based band has been putting a stark chill into the post-punk genre with their melodic eeriness, a sound that for me represents part of a blast from the past. Arctic Flowers transported me back to sweaty matt black painted venues I used to haunt back in the mists of time, something that my wife, who used to DJ in Manchester’s The Banshee nightclub back when we first met, concurred with when she wandered into the room whilst I was playing Straight To The Hunter.

Hallow Water‘s fuzzed out bass line drives the opening track along overlaid with the haunting vocals and post punk guitar lines, every track powers along and reminds of the original goth scene, which was fun rather than the latter incarnations that followed and bypassed the humour and energy, something that to me was an essential ingredient in what made the eighties alternative scene so memorable. There are also moments that channel their punkier side, tracks like Whip Hand, Dreamer, Masks and the stunning In Silence carry a dark energy that bands like Chaos 8 and The Band For Disease Control And Prevention are bringing back into the public consciousness.

Arctic Flowers have released an album that takes you back to the alternative scene of the late eighties that recalls the likes of Skeletal Family, Fields Of The Nephilim, The Chameleons, Bauhaus and Siouxsie And The Banshees, along with the other bands that formed the vanguard of the early goth and alternative scenes, so much so that you can practically smell the dry ice and patchouli oil. Arctic Flowers have created an album that could be described as a throwback, and it’s hard to argue against this as Straight To The Hunter does take you back by about three decades, but more importantly it carries the energy and atmosphere of that era perfectly which now, more than any other time since the late eighties, is the perfect soundtrack to the uncertain world that we live in.

Straight To The Hunter can be pre-ordered on digital and vinyl formats via Bandcamp here

Arctic Flowers Facebook page can be found here