While last year’s Snog vs The Faecal Juggernaut Of Mass Culture showed David Thrussell and co. making a return to the sorts of aggressive electro-punk stylings that characterised their early/mid-nineties work, this latest collection is a considerably different beast. Geared primarily around downbeat synth-pop elements, the twelve tracks collected together on the suitably apocalyptically-titled The Last Days Of Rome show Thrussell, as always, concentrating on the songcraft whilst also allowing his parallel creative outlets as a cinematic scorer and as the psyche-rock-tinged The Enemy to tangibly influence proceedings here.
Opening track “One Grain Of Sand’ certainly gives a good first taste of Thrussell’ comparatively restrained touch here, with slow, crunching drum rhythms and buzzing overdriven bass synths that call to mind Black Cherry-period Goldfrapp providing a backing for angular guitar hooks and Thrussell’ almost-crooned vocal delivery, smooth washes of female harmonies caressing the waspy analogue synths beneath his signature processed rasp. It’s certainly one of the most “straightforward’ and accessible pop-centric moments that Snog have offered up to date, even if the lyrics manage to carry all of Thrussell’ trademark barbed tendencies (“apathy is so easy to catch / don’ shake, I’m as guilty as you”). First single and title track “The Last Days Of Rome’ sees a previously unheard hint of Bollywood-tinged orchestral sweep creeping into Snog’ sonic palette, with eerie female backing vocals and rolling polyrhythmic elements injecting a slightly exotic vibe beneath the punching electro snares and Thrussell’ heavily vocodered tones.
The delicate and airy “City’ meanwhile easily ended up being my favourite offering here, with sparse motorik rhythms and icy Kraftwerkian synth sequences setting the controls to “glide’ while shimmering guitar fragments and washes of ambient pads create a poignant setting for Thrussell’ melancholic chorus hook (“city, don’ let me down”). Indeed, it manages to beautifully evoke a sense of densely urban isolation, whilst also providing this album’ least obviously “political’ downbeat pop moment. If guitar-fuelled electro-pop offering “Vaguely Melancholic’ manages to call to mind late-period New Order / Electronic’ angular synth-assisted indie rock, “I Do Know Now’ takes proceedings to a completely different setting entirely. In fact, it could almost pass for an outtake from Thrussell’ recent We Are The Enemy album under his parallel The Enemy alias, taking things out on a sci-fi country tip by letting rich steel guitar notes ring out over a spectral backdrop of slow programmed beats and shimmering atmospheric synths while Thrussell gets his Hoyt Axton-esque bluegrass croon on.
“Go To Sleep (Little Australia)’ meanwhile sees Thrussell offering up a lullabye of sorts to his local fanbase that easily represents this album’ most ominously ambient inclusion, though the palpable sense of atmosphere generated gets slightly dented by the toilet humour-centric spoken lyrics – “open your anus up wide / and welcome Little Johnny inside” being just a taste of the delights in store. All up, The Last Days Of Rome manages to contain some of Thrussell’ strongest songwriting to date, whilst also highlighting just how far Snog have moved away from the electro-industrial ghetto – it’s particularly worth grabbing the Australian pressing, as it also packs in Sir Real’ excellent reworking of the title track alongside four bonus instrumentals.
Chris Downton
