Erotic Secrets Of Pompeii – Mondo Maleficum

The Punk Site tends to attract bands from the ragged edges of the punk scene, from raw garage punk to the experimental end of post punk and beyond, we try to cover it all. Maybe this is because we have people spread over four countries, who between them have a love for everything from the garage punk of the 60’s, through the original punk explosion and onwards, to the current scene where punk has flourished and diversified to the point where it has become a genre where constraints are few, and you can no longer easily define exactly what it is. In that spirit I give you Bristol, UK’s Erotic Secrets Of Pompeii and their self released debut album, Mondo Maleficum.

Make no mistake Erotic Secrets Of Pompeii are leftfield, about as leftfield as you can get without leaving the stadium. The majority of song titles on their debut album would seem to be more at home on a psychedelic trip from the 60’s, and that spirit is certainly present but it is measured against a distinct post punk influence that adds an edge to their whimsical psychedelic influences. Opening track, Osiris At The Large Hadron Collider, is a prime example of their collision of post punk and psychedelic influences, the back beat is strident post punk but floating on the top of that is a heady brew that defies description, the closest I can come to is a cross between the Edgar Broughton Band and The Fall. From this point on things start top get stranger, with discordant spacey disco punk of The Wheel, The Spade, The Stars In Motion taking Mondo Maleficum into uncharted territory.

The album continues on it’s own off kilter style, from the deranged post everything dramatic psyche of Faustina Filmed In Psychorama and Bad Weather At Beachy Head, through the uneasy haunting piano led Venus Ascending, into the whimsical with Tenderness Has Failed Me and Auguries And Auguries all the while regularly dragging you back onto shores of driven offbeat pysch with Bad Weather At Beachy Head and the unhinged Crocodilian. Mondo Maleficum‘s finalè is The Unstitching Of Everything, an appropriate note to end to an album that draws from right across the board. I think I can confidently predict that this will be one of the most unusual and unique albums I’ll hear in 2024.

There is often a tendency for self indulgence to slip into records that draw from the psychedelic side of the street, this is not the case with Erotic Secrets Of Pompeii, only one track track breaks the five minute mark, and then only by a few seconds, meaning that everything is kept tight and to the point. This is funky in places, almost disco in others, with art rock and post punk looming over the whole concoction with something that is almost definitely illegal completing the recipe. Erotic Secrets Of Pompeii are an acquired taste, but it’s one worth experiencing if you tastes are broad and your mind is open. Make no mistake, whilst there is a definite (post) punky spirit to Mondo Maleficum, there is so much more on offer on this eccentric and unique debut.