Death Sentence: Panda!. - Insects awake [Upset The Rythem - 2008]Insects awake is a deranged and manic collusion of female screamed ‘n’ ranted hard core punk, sped up and lo-fi jazz runs, abused and amped up easy listening and general chaos- but it’s all made with out a guitar in sight with the three piece just using a mix of flute, saxophone, xylophone, clarinet, piano, trombone, bells/ gongs and effects. Most of the time the album is going for the throat with bounding and distorted horn work, yelled and ranted female vocals, crashing and smashing drum work often lined with xylophone atmospherics. Through that’s not to say there are not a few more tuneful and atmospheric edger’s popping up here and there- it’s just they don’t hang around for long as their grabbed by the throat and or forced into the mayhem. I cant recall horns sounding this nasty, sneering, aggressive and ugly- I guess the closet would be if you imaged early Residents album been taken over by a female fronted acid ‘n’ speed twisted punk band then you might just get Death Sentence: Panda!. Really an sonic experience all of it’s own, Insects awake forces 14 shots of jabbering horn mayhem, deranged female vocals, bounding drums in to just over 40 minutes. Leaving you when it’s finished with your brain spinning and your limbs in a tangle. Roger Batty
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