Fat Concubine mix the electronic with the avant-garde and their EP EMPIRE is their first full release since the single ‘for Who The Fools toll’ which was released in May this year.
To set the scene for the music on EMPIRE you have to imagine that a friend has taken you to a dark part of the city; a place where not all the streetlights works and there is a back alley full of dumpsters and feral cats and you arrive at a non-descript door under a naked bulb. You knock and a small hatch opens up, a password is spoken, a bolt is drawn back, and you are beckoned inside. As you walk down a dimly lit corridor to stairs that descend into a basement you can hear low bass vibrating through the brickwork. At the bottom of the stairs you emerge into a club night reminiscent of the one depicted in The Hunger (1983) where Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie prowl while Bauhaus plays.
The music of Fat Concubine has that same darkly intoxicating feel. Pulsing, alive and not over-produced. From the elastic synth opening of ‘Feeding off the dogs’ you can feel the subterranean pull of creatures that live in the shadows. The vocal style makes me think it’s what you would get if the Marks (Mark E. Smith and Mark Stewart) were merged in teleportation pods from The Fly (1986). ‘For Whom The Fools toll’ has a propulsive beat and catchy ‘la-la-la-la-la-la-laaa’ vocal repeat and a synth horn that flows throughout like a call to the games at the Colosseum.
‘When we kick Their front door’ riffs on ‘These Boots Are Made Walking’ but the menace that stalks the song suggests that the boots don’t just walk but do as the title suggests and kick in doors. ‘Tiny Pills’ growls along on a bass line tuned way down and a pounding drum beat that could keep a dance floor active for hours. You also get a live track ‘O so Peaceful’ which gives an indication of just how thrilling Fat Concubine are in the flesh.
It’s hard not to want to follow Fat Concubine down a dark rabbit hole. They are hypnotic and exhilarating on record and evoke the danger of a dive bar. They make you want to run off with the circus, but this circus is run by Jim Rose or Rob Zombie. However, before you run off, Fat Concubine have a treat for Joyzine readers, an exclusive stream of ‘Feeding off the dogs’ ahead of the EP release on 12th September.
EMPIRE is released through Cruel Nature Records and on their Bandcamp page you can order the digital release as well as a neon-green limited edition cassette, only 50 copies available worldwide.
Fat Concubine socials: TikTok | Instagram | Bandcamp
Review by Paul F Cook
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