I find it amusing to see current artists described along the lines of “post-punk-psych”. For the original post-punks, their whole raison d’etre was a reaction against exactly what psychedelia had become a decade and a half after the hippies had introduced the notion to the mainstream. So I always find it hard to determine exactly what the bands are aiming for – is this a conscious soundclash or are they just unaware and so are happy to throw together any hip terms that might help their underground credibility?
In the case of Melbourne’s These Patterns, there is a fair argument that they are acting knowingly. At least superficially. The meandering of psych is present, the tracks are lengthy and jam based. On the post-punk side, guitarist/bassist/vocalist Paul Satur (a psych name if ever there was one) sounds passingly like Ian Curtis. Though Ian Curtis, of course, tended to cop his vocal licks from Jim Morrison so the psych is not completely at odds there. Where the post-punk really rears up is in the album’s minimalism. Nowhere do These Patterns attempt gratuitous displays of technique. They layer simple riffs upon the off kilter repetition of Samantha Arthur’s drum pounding, which becomes the true backbone of these recordings. At times, particularly on ‘Species’, her rhythms evoke My Disco – a good thing in my view. But Jessica Njoo’s keyboard washes provide a murky, steely drone which gives the band a different atmosphere. ‘Visionary’ finishes up the album on an angsty note, a long way from psychedelia, while the timbres are definitely within a post-punk æsthetic.
Ultimately, the ‘psych’ part in the bio is a bit of a red herring. Outside of the track lengths, Species is far too taught, too minimal, too repetitive and a little too aggressive to please those merely wishing to space out. Conversely, however, those exact features are the album’s strengths and make for great listening. It’s a different type of zoning out, but one well worth listening for.
Adrian Elmer
