Monolith Cocktail Blog

ALBUM REVIEW/GRAHAM DOMAIN

Silverbacks ‘Archive Material’
21^st January 2022

Silverbacks are a band to watch – they incorporate abrasive wiry guitar noodling, jerky and percussive rhythms and solid basslines underpinning the vocals of Daniel O’Kelly sounding at times, like a cross between Mark E Smith and Bob Geldof! The overall sound sits somewhere between Gang of Four, Red Noise and Wire. All the right parts are present – energy, excitement, wry lyrics, pulsating rhythms, sudden bursts of noise, detours to odd sound worlds, but somehow the album feels dark, claustrophobic and unsettling! It’s not somewhere you would want to linger long, like a run-down housing estate where violence is only a glare away!

Occasionally, the claustrophobia and fear are suddenly left behind as the sun emerges from behind the clouds bringing warmth and colour to the world – these are the times where the vocals of Emma Hanlon shine bringing a much-needed diversity and contrast and perhaps an element of Laetitia Sadier wistfulness to proceedings. Overall, a good album but perhaps lacking melody. Definitely a band to keep an eye on as I am sure their best is yet to come.