Minneapolis trip-pop quartet Poliça conjure a charged yet tentative atmosphere throughout the course of their third album, ‘United Crushers’.
Descending like fog creeping through and concealing a landscape, the band’s newly refined, instrumentally-led sound builds with quiet prowess, but masks a lack of stylistic progression.
At times, though, they are able to craft a wonderfully deliberate mood that owns the listener’s attention with flare-like style. Opening track Summer Please captures the heady tone which themes the whole album, while Wedding is another standout moment.
Muted and warped, ChannyLeaneagh’s affecting vocals move like a siren song over tempestuous guitar riffs. The howling sense of loneliness contained in the songs feels simultaneously threatening and mournful.
More riffy in its entirety, the signature dual drumming tempos are less of a focus on this LP. The essence of ’United Crushers’ is exuded through the music’s arresting ambience. The lyrics are almost indecipherable throughout, with electronic and instrumental sounds complementing spatial production. As much is communicated through the bass as through the words.
Extensive touring is planned for this year and Poliça’s sound on this album feels better suited to a more expansive, live audio-visual arena. This is an aesthetic honed in anticipation of greater success and the scale of Poliça’s musical aspirations have grown in direct correlation to the band’s ambition to reach wider audiences.
There are distinct weaknesses here though. Lately and Lime Habit meander aimlessly and, although both are composed with pleasant ease, it is doubtful either will persuade audiences to take interest in a sound that brings no hook or tangible sentiment to the fore.
Expanding on the echoing melancholy that Florence and the Machine and the XX have produced to wild acclaim, what Poliça have created here is a more trend-focused body of work. The content works comfortably but too often has no specific twist to define it, costing the band some of their raw originality.
Polica Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri October 14 2016 - LEEDS Leeds University Union
Sun October 16 2016 - GLASGOW SWG3
Tue October 18 2016 - BRISTOL Anson Rooms
Wed October 19 2016 - LONDON Roundhouse
Thu October 20 2016 - BIRMINGHAM Institute
Fri October 21 2016 - MANCHESTER Ritz
Sun October 23 2016 - BRIGHTON Concorde 2
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