SINGLE REVIEW: Dead Animals – Detain

Dead Animals has been a project in flux for quite some time. Transforming from a nu-wave four-piece to an industrial solo act, the project has most recently settled on an identity of a queer music collective, fronted by creative mastermind Ruby Roadkill.

Across this span of time, Dead Animals has built up one hell of a live reputation across Merseyside. Disconcerting, unsettling, high-energy performances, of which two are never the same. It’s no surprise then that their debut single generated quite a buzz upon announcement; finally, Dead Animals in studio quality sound.

For an act with such a prominent live personality, it was possible that some of that energy could be lost in a professional recording setting. That, however, is far from the case. If anything, ‘Detain’ ramps up the overwhelming and beguiling nature of Dead Animals to the max, arriving in the form of a thumping industrial-gothic rave banger.

Roadkill herself is woven into these densely packed walls of pummelling synths as if her vocals are just as much of an instrument as anything else present; dissonant, vague melodies bubble away with a feverous, obsessive nature, as the rest of the track crushes the listener, massive percussive stomping on your psyche with a hypnotic, alluring fury, forcing you to dance or die.

It has taken quite some time to hear what Dead Animals are capable of in the studio, yet ‘Detain’ shows that the project made the right to choice to be patient; establish who they are, what their sound is, and then, and only then, proceed with world domination. They’ve already taken Merseyside; your town could be next.

For Fans Of: Nine Inch Nails, New Order, HMLTD, Hatari, Ditz

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