Originally hailing from Edinburgh but now London based, cousins Rich Bevan and Josh Doherty form the creative core behind Posthuman and this third album “The Peoples Republic’, released on their own Seed Records label sees the duo moving increasingly away from the electronics-dominated sound that characterised their earlier releases, with post-rock treated guitar elements coming to the forefront on many tracks here. While the emphasis is certainly on trailing guitar textures that will have some thinking of Slowdive or MBV’s more contemplative droney moments, the electronics remain clearly present throughout in the form of programmed beats and spectral synths, resulting in a fusion that comes across as more similar to Dntel or perhaps Boards Of Canada’s increasingly guitar-dominated treatments on their recent “Campfire Headphase’ album.
The icily-synthetic “And In The Morning’ particularly highlights the BOC comparison, with wandering sinister analogue synths that could come straight from “Geogaddi’ shifting beneath digitally manipulated beats and sampled snare hits, while the comparatively extrovert “One Of These Days’ tosses what’s close to a 4/4 house beat underneath jangling fuzzed-up guitars and keening falsetto vocals in a widescreen pop moment that calls to mind the Jesus And Mary Chain. Other more dreamy moments, such as the soft-focus “The Ray And The Whistle’ take things out into gossamer-light melancholic introspection that’s deftly balanced with a sweet indie-rock edge, Bevan’s low vocals ebbing through rippling layers of feathery guitar and sampled noise. An excellent third album offering from Posthuman that shows this London-based duo increasingly incorporating post-rock guitar elements into their productions with a level of adeptness missed by many similar outfits; indeed much of “The Peoples Republic’ succeeds beautifully because the electronics and guitars respectively compliment, rather than dominate each other.
