Polevaulter is what would happen if Justice were hit on the heads with hammers during a robbery, lost the ability to make melody or tunes, and remained very angry about the hammers.
Polevaulter are from Leeds. The sound is dark, the baritone vocals deep and menacing, delivering words the listener cannot always make out, and which have the semblance of making sense but are actually just a collection of lines put together because they sound good.
It reminds me of a compilation series from donkey’s years ago by Sonic Mook Experiment, a nightclub I think, who released several compilations of challenging indie, more guitar-based than this but equally dark and hard to listen to; interesting though, and admirable for the bands’ commitment to the sounds they wanted to make.
“Hang Wave” opens with a dark, throbbing synth and a menacing vocal before industrial percussion comes in, and pretty well stays that. Variation is not their bag, although some songs are almost melodic; “Plastering A Fake Smile” is practically a ballad. Justice sound a bit like LCD Soundsystem, Polevaulter have a song called “DDT Soundsystem” (“Drunk boys are sleeping in my house (my house)”.
Talking of lyrics, opener “Mia Goth Made Me Do It” has lines such as “I put a meal out for you / One round of a pound of flesh through chicken wire mesh / would feed a family of two” – it obviously just felt good to sing but its meaning is less clear. Ditto “Trend” – “Most racist joke on Top Gear / All my references are top tier”.
Difficult, but surprisingly enjoyable. For people who think Nine Inch Nails have gone too Spice Girls.
See polevaulter.bandcamp.com.
JMC
