While The Marigolds might describe themselves as a punk band, their music isn’t one dimensionally punk, you’ll hear a mix of heavy punk, psychedelic, industrial and funk.
‘My Undoing’ is, according to the band, the darkest track they’ve released and it is dark. It would sound like a speeded up Bauhaus or The Damned if there weren’t vocal harmony sections or mad crazy synth sounds.
The sound is frenetic, chaotic and utterly fucking compelling. But let’s take a moment to listen closer; the song is intricate, there’s layers of incredibly played sounds and ever changing feels. Listen too closely for too long – say the length of time it takes to review it – and you find yourself asking ‘how do they do that?’, ‘how can a heavy punk riff sound so good next to a vocal harmony?’. So the best thing is not to think too much, just sit back and drink in the glorious craziness of it all.
The release comes with a B-Side which, if your expectations had been set by ‘My Undoing’, is going to have you double checking this is the same band. ‘Bloom’ is a lush psychedelic ballad that drifts lazily through your head. Frankly beautiful keyboards combine to produce something ethereal and magical.
The question is what The Marigolds do punk? Well, strictly speaking no. But it overflows with punk attitude; the lack of respect for musical sacred cows, the ‘fuck it, we’ll do what we want’ approach. And for that I have to applaud them.
‘My Undoing’ is way up on my ‘most exciting singles reviewed this year’ list. It’s pure sonic joy; frenetic, chaotic and utterly fucking compelling. The unexpected gorgeous beauty of ‘Bloom’ is the cherry on the cake. This is a must listen.
