Girls In Synthesis – The Rest Is A Distraction

Girls In Synthesis (GIS) are before today a band that have been mentioned so many times to myself by others and in so many good ways, yet somehow the part were I go off after these conversations and listen or book tickets to catch them live, just never happened.  So here is my chance I thought when offered the opportunity to review this their second full length after ‘Now Here’s An Echo From Your Future’, with a few Mini albums scattered in-between, the band have now reached a point where all that went before has been drawn together in a full and perfect package. Having listened to ‘The Rest Is Distraction’ firstly, then going back and taking in the back catalogue, it was immediately obvious to myself that this album is by far the more complete GIS, and maybe “the rest is a distraction” to where they are now.  

Kicking of this wonderfully is possibly a statement that suits where they are right now musically, ‘It’s All beginning To Change’ has an air of yes it is for GIS, all the Joy Division, Siouxsie or The Fall cues that sit within the core of the sound are there, but its only fleeting, a bass line that poses the question, did I bring my crash helmet or should I just go head long into this, pulls you down a path to your very own destruction/existence all within 10 seconds or so, this seems to be a theme the album follows with absolute ease, a use of crashing drums, sublime samples, scraping down your body with sandpaper bass and a vocal intensity that  squeezes the brain into submission, have every single right to be there, and every intension to drive those emotional nails into the heart. 

From the very familiar insights that ‘Watch With Mother’ gives on the reality of family life back when your mind was still growing, to the ‘My Husband’ which sonically is so different, yet they both capture something of a capsule from everyones past emotional torments and maybe even a little bit of  their triumphs in the face of it too.  Then what is a GIS album without the challenging of the normal or the kick back at what might be perceived as normal, ‘Total Control’ & ‘Swallowed Pill’ are two thunderous beast that so no to normal in so many ways, a musical cacophony of pure unadulterated control and yet no control either, which is both refreshing and powerful too.  

To pick out something that encapsulates an album, is not something that comes easily, to should be the sum of its parts, but for my own personal indulgence ‘Not As I Do’ for no other reason than its fullness of sound and complexity yet simplicity of melody, has it all wrapped up, this is GIS at their very best.

If your looking for something that will always challenge, have something still a little familiar, gives a new meaning to emotional, and most defiantly expands the punk music box to the point of bursting, and if you have like myself only jumped into GIS at this stage, this album is the best point to enter the devils lair. 

Check out the bands WEBSITE for tour dates, record sales and all the news.

Out on 14th October via Own it\Cargo Records

Follow the band on FACEBOOK