Like an untamed binge on mild post punk and electro, Edinburgh outfit Snide Rhythms delivers their eponymous debut album.
With a distinctly original and precocious sound, Snide Rhythms look set to take the next step towards musical stardom. Wholeheartedly designed to stoke even the faintest fire of art rocker in all of us, Snide Rhythms provides a fun, eclectic and strangely danceable offering from this new band.
Their following and reputation are growing, seemingly by the day. Already featured on the likes of Radio 1, endorsements of DJs like Ally McCrae should be enough to grab the attentions of most. Such blatant mainstream appreciation can sometimes seem at odds with the very ethos of bands like this.
Building a reputation on being very much on the fringe, a place where art and music dance together like some sleepy, ether induced slow waltz, the lines between the two exceptionally hazy. So to have playtime on a major radio station, and there are no more major or commercially mainstream than Radio 1, could at first be interpreted as a somewhat dubious, almost selling out tactic by the group.
But let’s put that to one side and instead regard it as a testimony to the changing times of the music industry. Of course it is a good thing that music such as Snide Rhythms can reach out to those who would have perhaps never heard of that style of music, let alone this emerging group. We can all sleep easy at night therefore that there is still some musical integrity left in the universe.
The track in question, ‘Distractions’ offers the most commercially viable example of the group. Numbers like ‘Devil Cult Probe’ and in particular ‘Instrulude’ display the more artsy, potent and all round enjoyable detachment from the realities of modern mainstream music. Matching strong vocals, fantastic lyrics and an interplay between conventional percussion and electronic harmonies, Snide Rhythms is a ten track punch that packs its own indefatigable weight.
A strong showing therefore from this Edinburgh outfit. With a host of alternative mixes and other upcoming work available for download, Snide Rhythms could be a dark horse for the best band you’re about to hear of for 2012.